Paper Mario : The Dance of Seasons
by ThunderSmoke
Summary: The gateway between two worlds is shattered and the fate of them both is in danger. Only time will reveal the secrets of this epic, grand adventure. A Paper Mario style story with plenty of originality while still sticking to the formula we all know and love. "This is really doing justice to what Paper Mario would look like." "This could be as excellent as the Temple of the Sun."
1. Introduction

_Introduction_

_Ahem!_

_Allow me to tell you the story of the seasons._

_For as long as anyone can remember, the seasons have come and past in an endless cycle._

_From winter to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall and fall to winter they ebb and flow forever._

_And, in a world different from our own, there exist two lovers._

_This world is a perfect world with everything living in perfect harmony._

_The inhabitants of this world all possess great power, but their love is so great and vast that it creates a special connection between our world and theirs._

_The seasons are this connection._

_Like a lover's dance the seasons glide by, each allowing the other to take the lead._

_Held together by the bonds of their love, our world is intricately connected to theirs._

_Without them, the seasons would end and our world would be sent into chaos._

_An endless winter would befall it. There would be no warmth, no heat, and no love._

_Nothing would survive the bitter cold._

_This is why the only way to reach their world has been long since sealed away._

_The location of the gate between our world and theirs is kept in utmost secrecy._

_Nobody even knows where it is, or how to open it if they had even found it._

_Perhaps, in the end, not knowing is best._

PAPER MARIO : THE DANCE OF SEASONS

The moist and heavy summer breeze blew into the window of Mario's house. It was one of the hottest summers the Mushroom Kingdom had ever had. AC units had been out of stock at the Toad Town market for several weeks, but other than that, everything was good with the kingdom. The princess was safe; Bowser was nowhere to be seen, although his absence was suspicious of course. It was a year after Mario had been dragged along on a treasure hunt to Rougeport that ended up being a mission to save peach from being possessed by an ancient demon. As per usual, any sort of vacation always turned out to be another mission to save the world. Mario shrugged it off, though. As much as a hassle the princess was, he didn't have much else to do with his time anyways. He sighed at the memory, not sure if it was a sigh of contentment or remorse. Just then, a voice called from out on the porch.

"MAIL CALL!" yelled Parakarry. He shoved the letter in the mailbox and flew off to the next house.

"I've got it," said Luigi. For some reason, it was always Luigi's job to get the mail. He wondered why, but then lost interest after coming back inside with a letter.

"It's from Princess Peach! I'll read it to you, bro...Ahem..."

_Dear, Mario_

_ You are cordially invited you to come along with Toadsworth and I for a vacation! I recently found out about a great place far, far away from here, and it has sunny beaches, snowy mountaintops, dewy meadows and treehouses in a giant forest! Interestingly enough, it seems as though this region has all four seasons right near each other, is that not intriguing? I'd be delighted if you would come along – and between you and me, I'd rather it not just be me and Toadsworth! We're leaving today at noon by hot air balloon, so pack quickly!_

_P.S. Luigi can come along too!_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Princess Peach_

"You didn't have to read it in her voice, bro. Kind of creepy."

"Sorry, bro. But anyways, what do you think?"

"What do you think I think? Let's-a-go!"

"It's 11:50," said Luigi. "Shouldn't we pack?"

"Eh, no need," said Mario. "We wear the same thing all the time anyways."

The bros left the house in a heartbeat and headed over to the castle, walking briskly. The princess always made rather spur of the moment decisions like this one, leaving little time to prepare. At 11:59, they arrived at the castle.

"Oh good, good, you're finally here!" exclaimed Toadsworth. "Quickly now, we mustn't keep the princess waiting. The hot air balloon is ready to go, out in the courtyard."

He ushered them hastily through the castle and out into the courtyard where Princess Peach was waiting in the hot air balloon. Her small, delicate body standing in the giant, overwhelming hot air balloon was quite the funny sight. Toadsworth, Mario and Luigi stepped into the basket.

"Ready?" said Peach.

"Now, now princess, let's go through the safety checklist before taking off—"

"Let's go!" she exclaimed, and cut the cord tethering the balloon to the ground. Quickly, they rose upward into the bright blue sky. In mere minutes, they were high above the castle, floating lazily through the clouds. Toadsworth was having a minor panic attack, checking everything to make sure it was correct. Peach seemed to ignore it.

"Alright. Now that we've gotten situated, let us get a heading in the proper direction," said Peach. She pulled out a compass and held it in her small, white gloves.

"We need to go west, and we should arrive in several hours," she said.

"The princess sure is quite the navigator, isn't she?" said Toadsworth. "I told her we could use the plane, but she insisted on getting there this way..." Mario and Luigi just nodded.

"Now that we're all set up, I can elaborate more on the details of our destination," said Peach. "It's called Tempora. It's a region way, way west from here that's divided up into four regions, one for each season. There's Verion for spring, Aestasi for summer, Autumnus for autumn and Hiembri for winter."

All of their expressions were blank.

"Those are quite...uh...interesting names Peach," said Mario.

"The people there are quite different, at least that what it said about them in my research. They're sophisticated...modest! And polite and mannerly too. _They_ know the meaning of being fancy!" said Peach.

"So in other words – boring," said Luigi. She eyed him wearily. "Uhh, I mean, boring to people who don't have respect for such things!"

Mario whispered to Luigi. "_Nice save, bro!_"

"Anyways...as I was saying, there are four regions that represent all the seasons. Right in the middle, there's a fantastic town where they have huge festivals, and parades and there's just so much to learn about their culture! I propose that we start in Tempora Town and visit each region for a couple of days, one by one. There's bound to be a ton of interesting sights to see and things to do."

"It should only be about twelve hours until we arrive!" said Princess Peach, with much enthusiasm in her voice.

"Ohhh, yes princess. The hot air balloon idea was so much better than taking the airplane. We can enjoy the same beautiful sights, but for ten times longer..." said Toadsworth.

After several long hours later, they were finally approaching Tempora. Peach's descriptions didn't do much justice to the grandness of the landscapes they were flying over. It really was split up into four quite distinct regions, but the immensity of each of them was completely staggering. Way off in the distance they could see a steep, snowy mountaintop that peeked up through the clouds. At its base was a bright green forest and towards the east, where they were flying over currently, there was a big grassy plain and a moon-shaped cove along the shoreline. Up towards the north there was an autumn forest. Peculiarly, the trees were yellow, red and orange. But from their height, it all seemed to just be one blob of color. In the center of all the regions was the town. It sprawled out in all directions, taking up a corner of each region.

"Isn't it all so beautiful?" said Peach.

"It's _so majestic!_" said Toadsworth.

"It's-a pretty nice view!" said Luigi.

They brought the hot air balloon down and descended into the Tempora Town. The architecture of the buildings was astounding. The scale of everything dwarfed Toad Town in comparison. Huge columns held up giant roofs, and intricate carved archways loomed over the wide streets of the town. The streets were made from cobblestone, with patterns representing the seasons laid out in them. In the very center of the town there was a big, open area with markets and lots of people of all different varieties talking and walking together. It was a very lively place.

"I...suppose we can just land here. Did anyone see a helipad or something?" said Princess Peach. Toadsworth just continued to look anxious.

"Guess not. We're landing!"

The balloon floated gently down into the center of the town square. The people seemed slightly amused, but after a few moments went quickly back to whatever it was that they were doing. With a soft thud, they had finally arrived at Tempora Town.

_ "Amori...Amori! You must wake up, Amori! Something terrible has happened!"_

_ "...Vallus? What is it? What's wrong?"_

_ "There isn't any time to linger, we must leave now! Come with me before we lose each other."_

_ "Lose each other? Vallus, please tell me what is going on...I'm frightened. What's happening?"_

_ "Please, Amori. With all the love in my heart, I tell you that we must go! Quickly now, give me your hand and let's head out the door before it's too late. There isn't much time left before it happens!"_

_ "Before what happens?"_

_ "The gate...the...oh there isn't time! Amori, please! We need to leave!"_

_ "...okay Vallus...I trust you. You know I do."_

_ "Thank you, my love. I promise I'll explain soon. I love you, Amori."_

_ "I love y—"_


	2. Prologue Part 1 :: Time in Tempora Town

_Prologue Part One :: Time in Tempora Town_

"Alright, first things first," said Toadsworth. "Let's check in to a hotel and get settled and then—"

"I'll be right back. There's a market stall over there selling jewelry!" exclaimed Princess Peach. She scampered off hastily towards it, leaving Toadsworth, Mario and Luigi behind.

"Wait, now Princess! Waaaiittt!" yelled Toadsworth, running hastily after her.

"Well, this is pretty normal I'd say," said Mario. "I see a cafe over there, bro. Let's go grab some grub."

"Okey-dokey," said Luigi. They made their way over to the cafe, but were stopped suddenly in their tracks by a short, goomba girl with shiny brown hair.

"Excuse me," said the goomba. "I'm conducting a survey of the inhabitants of this town for a research project. I go to the University of Tempora, or UT for short. I'm an aspiring journalist. Could you two spare a couple minutes of your time to answer a handful of questions?" She smiled adorably, as if she was a trained master at it.

"Sure, why not?" said Mario.

"Awesome! Okay, first question. In what quadrant do you live?"

"Uhh, we're tourists, we don't live here," said Mario.

"...what do you mean, you don't live here?" the goomba responded.

"We just-a got here, in that hot air balloon over there," said Luigi, pointing to the hot air balloon parked obnoxiously in the middle of the town square. Several children were jumping and playing in and around it.

"You mean that hot air balloon came from outside of this town? We have hot air balloon tours of Tempora all the time you know," said the goomba.

"Yes, we traveled west for several hours to get here," said Mario.

"...that's impossible! Nobody ever visits this place, or even leaves for that matter. Are you sure you're not from around here?"

"Absolutely!"

"...hmm, well this is quite peculiar then." She rubbed her chin in thought, although it just looked like she was rubbing her face. Suddenly without warning she exclaimed, "This is fantastic! Finally, something interesting happens and I'm there to witness it firsthand!" Mario and Luigi just looked at each other in confusion. "You _have_ to come with me; I have a bunch of questions to ask you. I'm going to get _such_ a good grade on this project!"

"We have lots of things to do, uhh...what's your name?" said Mario.

"My name is Jennifer," said Jennifer.

"...really? Most goomba's names start with 'goom'," said Luigi.

"People always say that. You know, there aren't that many nice sounding girl names that start that way."

"Good point. I'm Mario and that's my brother Luigi" said Mario.

"Nice to meet you. Anyways, I won't take too much of your time, maybe twenty minutes or so. The University is just a couple of blocks down. You'll be in and out in no time!" She smiled adorably again, exactly as before.

"Okay," said Mario. "We'd be happy to help you out." Jennifer led them out through the bustling square and into a narrower side street. Things were starting to calm down a bit as they walked down the cobblestone road.

"So, why don't any people leave this place?" asked Mario. Jennifer seemed puzzled by the question, as if it were nonsensical to ask it.

"There is nowhere else. This is the world." She seemed completely serious.

"But if you just go further than Tempora, surely you'd—"

"That's just the thing" responded Jennifer. "Nobody leaves here. It's not like anybody wants to though – it's perfect! That makes sense to me, but nobody has ever _come_ here." She looked at Mario and Luigi quizzically. "Surely where you come from there is a giant force field that prevents things from getting inside?"

"What?" said Mario. "Absolutely not! Wha—a _force field_? We didn't-a see any force field!"

"Oh this is getting more interesting by the second!" said Jennifer. She jotted some notes down in a notebook. "We can talk more later. First, let me give you a tour of the University!"

Luigi put up his finger in protest. "But, we want to know about—"

"Right in front of us is the grand entrance to the University of Tempora, home of the Charging Chucks football team, the Go-Go Goombas, and the Bob-Omb Band. You should listen to their rendition of 1812 Overture – it's fantastic! For over a _hundred_ years, UT has been the proud symbol of the advancement of knowledge in Tempora, and..." Jennifer kept talking as they made their way up the steps and into the entrance of the University.

"To your left, we have the chemistry department. We have a few students working on some new power-ups. You're familiar with power-ups, aren't you Mario?"

"Me, power-ups? I'm the master of power-ups," said Mario.

"Oh, do you know about the Lightning Flower?" asked Jennifer.

"_Lightning Flower_?" said both Mario and Luigi simultaneously.

"Yes, Lightning Flower. A few semesters ago, a couple of students genetically altered a fire flower to produce lightning. It's pretty exciting stuff. It's a shame it causes severe dizziness and a slim chance of slipping into a coma after a minute or so of use." Their mouths were agape.

"So anyways, let's continue onwards to the biology department. You'll love what they've done with Piranha Plants..."

Mario interrupted her. "Jennifer...what exactly are we doing? You said you just needed us to answer some questions, but we need some answers, specifically that force field...thing."

"Okay, okay. I got a little carried away. I have a little office down the hall." They walked down and entered her office. The walls were covered with all sorts of different papers and documents, all pinned in different arrangements.

"Please excuse the mess. I'm a bit of a slob when it comes to my work." She sat down in her chair, facing Mario and Luigi. "Okay, so what about the force field would you like to know?"

"Why didn't we see it?" asked Mario.

"Your guess is as good as mine. It's been there for pretty much forever. If you want some historical facts, I can tell you that people used to make a big deal of it a long, long time ago."

"How long?" asked Mario.

"About 10,000 years or so" said Jennifer. "It appeared out of nowhere one day. Nobody could come in, and nobody could get out. The people were different back then, too. They fought hard to break the barrier. For many years they tried and failed, but it was no use. Nothing they could do would break it. Of course, sporadic attempts were made in the following years – more so at the start, but the attempts gradually grew further and further apart until nobody tried anymore. I guess they just realized that the barrier wasn't all that bad. We have all we need here in Tempora and the people are flourishing. The barrier keeps the bad things out, and the good things in."

"Then how did we get in?" said Mario.

"As I said before, your guess is just as good as mine. Where did you say you were from?"

"The Mushroom Kingdom," said Luigi, rather quickly. He felt the need to be a part of the conversation.

"Interesting..." she responded, writing more down in her notebook.

"What did the people do before the barrier appeared?" said Mario.

"Nobody really knows. It's mostly just speculation. It's simply been too long, and we don't have enough historical evidence to make any concrete conclusions."

"Wait..." said Luigi. "How did the princess know about this place, then?"

"...I don't know," said Mario. "Come on, let's-a-go get her and bring her back."

"Okay, that's fine" said Jennifer. "I should compile my notes a little and—" Mario and Luigi had already left to go find Peach and Toadsworth.

"I'm telling you, princess, this deal is a scam!" said Toadsworth. "That bracelet will probably break within the hour. They're made to fail, I tell you. They break and then you have to go buy another, and another, and—"

"I'll take five, please" said Peach. The street vendor handed over five of them and Peach gave him the money. "There, now I'll have enough to last at least five hours." Toadsworth fumed. Just then, Mario and Luigi came up to them.

"Princess Peach, Toadsworth, come with us! We need you to talk to someone" said Luigi.

"A local? Oh, I'd love to!" said Peach. Mario and Luigi brought them back to the university and into Jennifer's office. She still sat behind her desk, scribbling intently into her notepad. She looked up.

"Oh, you're back! I presume this is the princess of peaches you were talking about earlier."

"Yes, that's me," said Peach in a modest, quiet manner. She seemed used to the common mistake of her title and didn't correct it.

"How did you find out about this place?" asked Mario.

"When I was doing some tidying up around the castle, I came across some old papers and I was going through them when I found a map. Normally it wouldn't have stood out to me, but I noticed that there was a part of the world that hadn't been explored yet. Well, it had been, but there wasn't anything there. The map had very detailed markings for this place scribbled into it, as if it were hastily written. And, well, the rest of what happened is what we just did. It's almost like this place just appeared out of nowhere."

"That's very interesting..." said Jennifer. She jotted down more into her journal. "Hey, listen. I've got a lot of information to compile now. It's becoming nighttime soon. You should go out and explore a bit. After all, you just got here. You should enjoy the sights! Can you meet me here tomorrow morning at, say, 8:00?"

"Sounds-a good to me," said Mario. They left Jennifer's office and began to explore the town. There was a lot to see, and not a lot of time left to see it.

_A cloaked black figure seized Amori from Vallus' arms and disappeared into the darkness of the shadows. Before Vallus could do anything, the figure vanished. He searched everywhere for his beloved Amori, but didn't find a trace. This couldn't happen. Did the figure know how much she meant to the world? To him? Everything he was – his spirit, his passion, his identity – was invested in Amori. And after spending a happy eternity with her, in a split second she was gone. The feelings of despair were completely and utterly new, and they tore his heart to shreds._

_ She woke up in a dim, cold corridor. The only light came from lanterns hanging along tall pillars lining the walls. At the end of the hall was a shiny, black pedestal at which the cloaked figure stood. Black Lily flowers adorned the sides of the pedestal. Amori tried to speak, but nothing came out. Suddenly she was getting up and walking towards the figure. Without mental control of her body's movements, she came closer and closer. Her white bed dress glided smoothly over the glossy dark floor. Now she stood at the pedestal with the cloaked figure, facing towards him with fear in her eyes. She could see the dim contour of his face, but not enough to distinguish anything. Only his shallow blue eyes pierced through the darkness._


	3. Prologue Part 2 :: The Connection

_Prologue Part Two :: The Connection _

The sun was beginning to set in Tempora Town, and the orange haze of the sky was cast softly over the tops of all the buildings. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toadsworth were walking about the town, trying to get a feel for it. Compared to Toad Town, it was amazing. After a while of exploring, they came to a slim, tall building. It had a clock on the front face, and the enormous seconds hand ticked by forcefully. A plaque with some writing on it was inset in the ground before the entrance.

_Tempora Hall_

_Oldest building in Tempora_

Upon entering, they came into a long corridor with large, tall columns lining the walls on both sides. The floor was dusty and cracked in several places. It was clear that it wasn't visited often, or at least not well taken care of. At the far of the room was another clock with a beautifully adorned pedestal before it. Their steps echoed throughout the room as they walked forward.

As they neared the pedestal, something strange seemed to be happening. "...I feel funny" said Princess Peach.

"What's wrong?" inquired Toadsworth. "I told you not to eat from the food stalls here!"

"No, not like that," she responded. "I feel like...I should stand behind the pedestal. It's like it's calling me." Toadsworth's eyes widened.

"Princess, I don't like the words you used to describe that. Maybe you shouldn't..." Peach began to walk towards the pedestal. As she got nearer, her body began to glow faintly and then even more so. Swirls of light danced around her body. They swirled faster and faster until they became white rings of light. She was glowing pure white now, with rays of light shooting into her from every direction. Her body began to fade, and the rest stood in awe until Mario snapped out of it.

"Peach!" he yelled, extending his arm out to grab her. But as he did so she vanished with a bright flash of light, his arm now occupying the space she once stood in.

"Princess? Princess? Where have you gone?" said Toadsworth. There was no answer but his concerned voice echoing throughout the corridor. The doors to the building slammed violently shut and the lights in the room all went out until the clock behind them flashed into life, glowing luminously. It seemed semi-transparent.

"Whoa..." said Mario.

"What do we do?" said Toadsworth, panicking. "What do we _do_?" Mario went over to the clock and examined it closer. He brought up his hand to touch it. The surface rippled around his finger as it went in farther and farther.

"Bro...maybe we should wait before we..." Mario was already moving into the surface before Luigi could finish. He wouldn't allow _another_ vacation to be cut short by losing the princess.

"Bro!" said Luigi, going into the clock after him. Now they were both gone, with only Toadsworth left alone in the long, dark corridor. He spoke to himself.

"Okay, I guess it's time to walk into the scary clock portal to save the princess now. Here I go..."

As Toadsworth entered the portal, the clock read 9:03 PM, and as soon as he was engulfed completely by the clock, the lights turned back on and everything returned to normal as if nothing had ever happened.

Mario emerged from the clock face into the same long corridor, with Luigi and Toadsworth following immediately behind him. The corridor was different though. The floor was glossy and smooth, and at the far end where the entrance used to be was another large clock, but it looked broken and in bad shape.

"...Princess?" said Toadsworth. There was no response.

"Princess Peach?" said Mario.

"How many princesses do you think are here?" said Luigi.

An unsuspected voice answered. "None. At least not here there are." A figure emerged from behind one of the pillars. He wore a dark blue cloak with black trim. His face couldn't be seen behind the hood of his cloak in addition to a long, white mustache that flowed downwards, ending inches from the ground. His two white eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"Who are you?" said Mario.

"I am Sophos," he replied. "I am the guardian of Contineous, the world between worlds."

"Where is the princess?" said Toadsworth.

"She is not here. The person you seek is somewhere else entirely. The pedestal at which you stood at is a part of the gate between your world and another and can only be activated through the presence of one who is pure of heart – a rare quality that few possess."

"Where is she, then?" said Mario. For such a rare quality, Peach had a knack for getting into trouble with it.

"She is in the other world, no doubt. When one of pure heart passes through to the other side, the pathway between worlds opens briefly so that those who are not pure of heart can have a chance to prove their worth to continue through."

"How do we do that?" said Mario.

"Well, normally I would be the judge of your moral character and decide your passage but I'm afraid the entrance to the other world from here has been long since...destroyed." He gestured slowly towards the broken clock face at the far end of the room.

"What? No, we have to get to the princess _now!_" exclaimed Toadsworth. "She needs me!"

"When you are in this realm, you need not worry about the passage of time. Time does not pass here. I am deeply sorry for you, but despair not, for there is a way to repair the gate. Scattered throughout Tempora are four cogs, one for each region. These cogs are special, because they belong here in the gate seen before you. Long ago, about 10,000 years in fact, the gate between worlds was dismantled. It cannot be destroyed, so whoever decided to break the connection scattered the cogs to avoid the gate ever being reconstructed. Nobody knows exactly where the cogs are, but they are probably all guarded in some way."

"Well, I guess there's no doubt about it – let's go find those cogs!" said Mario.

"Wait!" exclaimed Sophos. "Before you go back to your world, you should take this." Sophos pulled a golden pocket watch out of his cloak and handed it to Mario. It was trimmed with crystal and shined like starlight. The hands didn't tick by, but he remembered that Sophos said time doesn't pass here. "This pocket watch is the key to finding the cogs. Right now, it's in its least powerful state. But, as you collect the cogs, it will grow in power and allow you to use its abilities. As of now, it only has one ability..." Everyone froze with anticipation.

"...the one ability it currently has is...the ability to tell time!" said Sophos. He let out a big laugh. "Oh, please excuse my humor. Being here in this timeless realm gets a little boring sometimes. But in all seriousness, you can return here anytime by using the pocket watch at the pedestal, but only at the pedestal. It will grant you passage into this realm without needing someone pure of heart to open the way. I wish you good luck! I will be here, forever and always, the guardian of the world between worlds."

They waved goodbye and returned back into the clock face to the normal world. As soon as they were back, Mario looked at the watch. The hands spun around rapidly for a few seconds, and then started ticking normally. It was 9:03 PM, the same time it was when they entered the portal. Their adventure was only starting, but before setting out to find the missing cogs they needed to find Jennifer.

"You went _WHERE?_" exclaimed Jennifer. They came back to her office immediately to tell her what had happened.

"The princess just _disappeared_ into thin air," said Toadsworth. He was starting to feel hopeless.

"And you went _into the clock_, into another realm, and met an old sage who told you he was the guardian of the world between worlds? You realize how insane this sounds, right?" Mario nodded, and was about to speak when Jennifer started talking again. "This is fantastic! I thought I was lucky before when I met all of you, but now I'm just amazed. You said you were going to travel all throughout Tempora to find the missing cogs, right? Please, take me with you!"

Mario thought for a moment. Did they really need another person in their party to worry about? _Oh who am I kidding_, he thought. _We need someone who knows something about this place._ "Absolutely," said Mario. "We could use someone who knows a lot about this place, and you are certainly knowledgeable it seems."

Jennifer blushed at the compliment. "Aww, thanks. I promise you won't regret it. I think we should wait until morning to set off, though. We can stock up on supplies before our journey then, but for now, I suggest you all get a good night's sleep."

They left the university once again and found an Inn to stay in for the night. Tomorrow morning marked the beginning of what would be a grand adventure.

* * *

><p><em> "Greetings to you, my dearest Amori," said the cloaked figure. "How are you feeling on this fine evening?" She could say nothing. Her anger and frustration screamed out in her mind but still she could not speak. "Never mind the question, let us simply get on with this instead. Although, I suppose it would be rude of me to not tell you my name. I am Invidus, and I already know your name is Amori. You may remember me, or perhaps you will not." Invidus took a step closer to Amori. She could make out more details in his face now. She expected a scary, evil appearance, but that was not what she found. His skin was soft and gentle, and his eyes seemed tired and sad. "Do you remember me? The person whose heart – oh, never mind. It's too late now, the damage has already been done. You'll be stepping here, in front of the pedestal in just a moment. After you do so you'll be sent to the other world – the other, worthless world, that is. After you do so, I'll be free to enter Contineous, the connection between our perfect world and theirs. After I work my magic, there won't be any way for you to ever come back and see your Vallus again!" A sinister laugh escaped from his mouth, sending shivers down her spine. "Of course, if there were a way to be rid of you entirely, believe me I would have found it, so consider yourself lucky. You've caused me enough pain already, Amori. Enough!" His voice boomed throughout the corridor.<em>

_ Against her own will, she walked in front of the pedestal and light began to swirl around her, growing faster and faster in speed. Shadows cast from the display danced all around the room as she began to fade away. Rays of light shot inwards towards her body, and she glowed pure white until vanishing completely from view. The clock behind the pedestal came to life and as Invidus walked through it, a thought ran through his troubled mind._

_If I can't have her, then everyone deserves to suffer._


	4. CH1 Part 1 :: Very Green Verion

**Author's Note: **Another chapter, here we go!

* * *

><p>Chapter One Part One :: Monty Moles and Prairie Dayzees<p>

Early in the morning before the sun had even begun to set, they awoke and prepared for their adventure. A quick trip to the Item Shop gained them a healthy variety of healing mushrooms and a few attack items like POW Blocks, Fire Flowers and even Ice Flowers. Jennifer was at the University, finishing up a few things herself before embarking on the journey. Mario, Luigi and Toadsworth made their way there after preparing.

"Looks like the start of yet another adventure bro," said Luigi. "You got to do the cool stuff on the last two, but it looks like this time, we're in it together." They laughed.

"You saved the Waffle Kingdom and rescued Princess Eclair, didn't you?"

"True, true," he responded. He just wanted Mario to bring it up. Toadsworth walked behind them, feeling a bit uneasy about the looming adventure.

"Excuse me gentlemen," said Toadsworth. "I can't help but think that I should sit this one out." They both stopped walking. "Now, now, I know what you're going to say, but we all know I'm not fit for jumping on Goombas, and kicking turtle shells. There's a lot to this whole story that seems to be missing. Maybe I could stay here in Tempora Town and do some research while you're away, what do you gentlemen think?" Mario looked at Luigi. They both nodded.

"Alright then, it's settled. You know how much the Princess means to me, boys. Promise me you'll return her safely?"

"We promise!" said Mario and Luigi. They continued walking to the University, and walked into Jennifer's office. She opened up the door. "Let's go!" exclaimed Jennifer, waltzing through the bros and out of the door. After walking down the streets of Tempora Town, they came to a big gate at the southwest corner of the town. Outside was the region known as Verion, a vast and spread out region consisting of grassy plains and scattered pockets of forests and lakes. The rolling green hills bobbed up and down like waves over the horizon, with the bright blue sky spanning across it. There was no path through the region, just wide open landscapes mostly untouched by civilization. After a while, they came up to a small village with cute, bright little houses of varying colors. There were flowers absolutely everywhere, covering most of the ground. Some houses even had flowers on the rooftops. Around the village walked flower-like creatures with red and orange petals. They all skipped around whimsically.

"What are those things?" asked Luigi.

"Those are Prairie Dayzees," said Jennifer. "They're mostly harmless, but don't let them sing to you or you might fall asleep."

"Good to know," said Mario. They walked into the village. One Dayzee came up to them.

"Hello, travelers. My name is Violet, and welcome to our village!" said Violet. Her name described the colors of her petals – bright blue and violet. Her voice was so smooth and soothing. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Hello Violet," said Mario. "We're looking for a golden cog, do you know where we could find such a thing?"

"Oh, goodness me, I have no idea," she responded. "We don't have much here besides flowers...and well, more flowers...sorry." She frowned, and the colors in her petals dimmed a little bit.

"That's alright, Violet. Thanks for welcoming us into your village, anyways," said Jennifer.

"Oh, but there is another place you could look. It's called-" the ground suddenly began to shake and rumble. Off in the distance, they could spot several mounds of dirt bulging up out of the ground and moving towards them.

"IT'S THE MONTIES!" yelled Violet. "SCRAMBLE SCRAMBLE SCRAMBLE!" Every Dayzee immediately began to run about in random directions with their arms up in the air. "Do what we were taught! Serpentine, serpentine, serpentine!" yelled a random Dayzee. The bulges of dirt were making their way into the village. Flowers of every variety became uprooted and started flying up into the air, and Monty Moles hopped up out of the mounds and onto the ground in the middle of the little village. There were three of them standing in the midst of the chaos. One in the middle, standing with his arms crossed and two at his sides. He was wearing a pitch black pair of sunglasses.

"Hey, little flowers!" said the Monty Mole in the middle. "Why are you running, we just want to _play_," he said sarcastically.

"Get out of our village!" yelled a Dayzee from behind one of the houses. Her voice was muffled and distant.

"And who is going to make us?" replied the Monty Mole. Mario stepped forwards and took a battle stance. "Who is this? He looks like a plumber..." said one of his cronies. The Monty Moles surrounded the three of them now. "Who cares who he is, let's beat 'em all up!"

One of the Monty Moles burrowed quickly into the ground, and a bulge of dirt shot towards them and knocked them all off their feet, sending them crashing into the ground.

"Jennifer, what can you tell us about these guys?" said Mario.

"These are Monty Moles. They can burrow underground and move quite fast, but above ground they're actually quite slow. I think if we can dodge their attacks, we can counterattack when they resurface."

The other two Monty Moles were burrowing down into the ground now, but this time they were ready. In two lines, the moles shot towards Mario and Luigi. They both jumped in unison and dodged the attack. The two moles resurfaced and they both jumped on their heads before they could regain their bearings. They ran off after a few more hits, leaving only their leader to fight.

"Hey, guys!" exclaimed the Monty Mole. "You call that a fight? Get back here and help me!" He burrowed into the ground again, and shot straight towards Luigi. A few feet before hitting, however, the Monty Mole suddenly stopped for a brief second, and then continued forwards. Luigi wasn't prepared for this, and landed back onto the ground when the bulge was underneath him, sending him falling awkwardly to the ground. The Monty Mole resurfaced, but Mario was ready, and jumped hard on his head.

"Ow!" exclaimed the Monty Mole. "What's with you guys, huh?"

"What's with you?" said Jennifer. "Why do you have to terrorize this peaceful village? Unless there's some other reason why you're here..."

"Well, um...there kind of is...but it's...never mind." The Monty Mole burrowed into the ground once again, and left the village in a hurry.

"What's his beef?" said Jennifer. The Dayzees emerged from all of their hiding places after a few moments. Violet came up to them.

"That was Maurice," said Violet. "Isn't he just...dreamy?" She sighed wistfully. They all were completely shocked and confused.

"We're talking about that punk mole, right?" said Jennifer.

"Oh, yes, that's the one," she replied. "Maurice comes into our village like this all the time. He thinks he can hide why he really comes here, but I know."

"Why?" asked Jennifer.

"Isn't it obvious? He likes me!" Jennifer rolled her eyes.

"Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. Anyways, before this little mishap, you were saying something about a golden cog?"

"The Monty Moles might know about that, but I'm not entirely sure. We Dayzees don't go there much. There's been a long time feud between them and us. Nobody really knows how it started, but I don't care. I love Maurice, and someday I'll make him mine!"

"Well good luck with that and all, we'll be heading out and looking for the golden cog now," said Jennifer.

"Say hi to Maurice for me!" They made their way out of the village, following the trail of destruction created by the Monty Moles. Along the way there, they passed by a lone windmill at the top of a hill. The door was locked and there was no way in, so they simply continued onwards following the dirt trail. It wasn't long until they came upon an area completely devoid of grass. There were dirt mounds scattered everywhere, some so high they cast a shadow they could stand in and not see the sun.

"Hey, look who's back for a rematch!" said Maurice as he popped out from one of the mounds of dirt.

"We're not here for a rematch," said Mario. "We're looking for something important."

"Yeah? What?" he replied.

"A golden cog of some sort," said Mario. "Do you know where we could find something like that?"

"I might, for a price," he replied with a grin across his face. Mario sighed.

"Alright, what's your price?" Luigi asked.

"I want you to do something for me, but it's a secret." Maurice slid down the dirt mound towards them and spoke quietly. "I want you to tell Violet to meet me at the windmill between our villages...can you do that?"

Jennifer spoke up. "Why do you need us to talk to—"

"SHH!" said Maurice. "Nobody else can know, alright? If any of the guys around here knew how I felt about her, they'd make fun of me."

"Alright, alright," said Mario. "We'll tell her to meet you at the windmill. And then you'll tell us where the golden cog is, okay?"

"Deal," said Maurice. "I'll be there at sunset."

With that, they were already heading back to the Dayzee village, passing by the windmill once again. The sun was getting lower and lower into the sky. Mario pulled out the pocket watch given to him by Sophos. He almost forgot he had it. The hands ticked by effortlessly, and the face of the clock glowed faintly orange to represent the sunset. Precious time ticked by with every passing moment. They still had no idea where Peach was, or if she was even okay. Mario just hoped that Maurice wasn't leading them in the wrong direction.

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><p><em>Amori appeared on the pedestal, but the room was different. It was dusty and cracked in several places. She left the room, knowing all too well what Invidus had done. She needed to do something now, or there might not be any hope left in the future. Outside of the corridor was absolutely nothing. It was the only building that stood in Tempora Town. She could see the massive mountain off in the distance, and that was about it. This entire world was completely and entirely new to her. It was nothing like the perfect world she lived in. This one seemed completely desolate, with nothing around showing any signs on life. She decided to head east in hopes of finding something. It would be quite the while before she would, but she had enough time to spare for many years.<em>

_Peach was standing on the pedestal in front of the giant clock face. It was completely dark inside the room, with the only light escaping from a crack in the doorway at the entrance. She slowly made her way out of the corridor and into the bright, blinding light. The town in front of her was absolutely stunning. Everything shone bright and glowed in the bright, warm atmosphere. Suddenly, the brightness faded away as something grabbed her and took her back into the pitch black corridor. When she tried to yell for help, nothing came out._

_ "Silly princess...we can't let you out there...you'll be much safer in here with me where I can keep a close watch on you."_

_ "W-Who are you?" said Peach. She was surprised she could speak this time._

_ "__I'm glad you asked, your majesty. I am Invidus, the supreme ruler of your world and...soon...mine as well." He grinned. His teeth sparkled in the darkness._

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So what do you guys think of the first part of the first chapter? How is the pace? Too slow, too fast? Just right?


	5. CH1 Part 2 :: A Big Fat Moe

**Author's Note: **Here is the next installment of chapter one, as promised! It turns out writers block is a real thing (big surprise there), and I experienced quite a bit of it. But I worked through it, and I think the story is starting to come together. I'm still working on the finer details of the co-story (the parts at the end of each section).

If you can, please leave a quick review or comment if you've read this far. I'd really appreciate it, even if it's just saying something you liked or didn't like.

Also, can you figure out what the "big" reference is in this chapter? Kudos to those who figure it out (shouldn't be _too _hard).

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><p>Chapter One Part Two :: A Big Fat Moe<p>

Mario, Luigi and Jennifer strode into the Dayzee village. There were a few Dayzees with trowels cleaning up the mess caused by the Monty Moles earlier. They walked up to one of them.

"Hello, do you know where we could find Violet?" asked Mario.

"She lives in the violet house down the block," replied the Dayzee, and continued her hard work.

"That makes sense," said Jennifer. "Why didn't we think of that?" They walked down the path to her doorstep and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" said a muffled voice.

"It's us again," said Luigi. Violet opened the door.

"Oh, hello again friends. Did you find the golden cog you were searching for?"

"Not quite," said Mario. "But we found Maurice, he said for you to meet him at the windmill at suns—"

"He did? Oh, that's wonderful! I'll be out in just a minute after I beauty up a little...oh who cares, I'm going now!" She bolted out the door and between the three of them, skipping hastily down the path and out of the town as they watched.

"Something tells me that's unhealthy," said Jennifer. "Well, come on now, let's get to walking again..."

The blades on the windmill turned slowly and powerfully, similarly to the hands of the clock in Tempora Town. The sun was very low in the sky now, and the shadows stretched far across the landscape. Upon approaching the entrance to the windmill, they discovered that the lock was completely gone. The door creaked at a low pitch as it opened. Inside, the air was musty and dry. A wooden staircase made its way up and around the contour of the wall. They could hear muffled voices from high above them. As they made their way up the steps, the voices started to become more clear.

"...is there no way we can be together, Maurice?"

"If there is, I do not know it. You know how different our people are. Monty Moles just can't be with Prairie Dayzees, at least not in public. It would start a riot!"

"Maybe a riot is what should happen! You'd still be yourself even if you stopped being a Monty Mole. What's a Monty Mole anyway? It isn't a Dry Bones, a Piranha Plant or a Fuzzy is it? What is so bad about Monty Moles? If I could change myself, I would!"

"I trust your willingness to change, my love. But alas, you will always be a Dayzee, and I will always be a Monty Mole."

A step creaked as they walked onto it.

"Shh! Somebody is here!" They weren't really trying to be sneaky, so Mario spoke up.

"It's us," said Mario. They rounded the last bit of stairway to the top floor. Maurice and Violet were standing underneath the giant wheel in the ceiling, with the center column extending downwards into the floor. It rotated about ever so slowly, the wood creaking every few moments.

"Oh, thank goodness," said Maurice. "We thought you were, well, somebody from my village."

"Who?" said Jennifer. "You didn't mention anyone else earlier. Wait...who exactly are you talking about?" inquired Violet. She looked unhappy.

"It's not what you're thinking, Jennifer. It's...just...somebody who...if they came here...it would be...bad." She looked angry now, her petals curled slightly inwards.

"Who is she?" she demanded. It was unusual to hear such contempt in her soft voice. Maurice fumbled for words. He looked conflicted about whatever it was he was trying to tell her.

"Violet, I love you. It's not someone like you, it's—"

"Who is _she?"_

_ "_It's not a _she_, it's—"

"WHAT?"

"Violet, please let me explain. This is all a big misunderstanding!"

"No chance, bub. Consider this eloping session _OVER!_" She stormed down the stairway, somehow managing to creak on every step. Mario, Luigi and Maurice's mouths were all agape.

"I can't believe you'd do that to her," said Jennifer.

"I _didn't_ do that to her!" said Maurice. "The person I was trying to talk about is someone no Dayzee can know about."

"Can you tell us?" said Jennifer.

"Only if you promise never to tell anyone," said Maurice.

"We promise," said Jennifer. Mario and Luigi nodded.

"Okay...he's the leader of our clan. His name is Moe. He's practically eight feet tall and four feet wide and let me tell you, that's _huge_ for a Monty Mole. If he were to see me with Violet, he'd rip me to shreds, and anything else around him for that matter. Once he gets angry, there's just no stopping him."

"So that's why you couldn't tell her," said Jennifer. "I can't say it's a perfect reason, but I see why you'd hesitate."

"That's why nobody can ever know about us. If any word spread that I was going out with a Dayzee, there's no telling what could happen." A creak from below sounded, followed by several large, slow footsteps. They were getting louder and louder as whatever was coming up the stairs came closer. Looking back in horror, they saw a huge hairy beast of a Monty Mole. Looming high above them, it gave one angry look at Maurice.

"You in big trouble Maurice," said Moe. Its deep voice boomed throughout the room.

"M-Moe, it's not as bad as it seems—"

"You know rules. Your game over." Moe stomped over to Maurice, completely ignoring them.

"Mario, Luigi, we have to do something!" said Jennifer. Luigi jumped up high, but not enough to reach the beast's head.

"Ouch. Who hurt me?" said Moe as he turned his giant body around slowly. "Puny green plumber hurt me? Your game over now!" Mario followed suit and tried to jump higher to do some real damage, but to no avail. Now Moe was furious, and he started to stomp his giant feet. Dust and dirt fell from the rafters. Suddenly, the floorboards broke loose, sending them all tumbling down to ground level in a giant crash sending wood splintering in every direction. After a few moments of getting orientated, they saw a big bulge of dirt and wooden debris heading right towards them. Moe was burrowed underground and heading straight towards them at great speed. There was no way they could jump over him, but suddenly, Maurice burrowed into the ground and slammed into Moe underneath the surface, diverting his path just to the left of Mario, Luigi and Jennifer. Moe popped out of the ground behind them to regain his bearings.

"Quickly, let's get out of here!" yelled Jennifer. They rushed out of the door as quickly as possible outside. It was dark out now; the stars were just beginning to shine downwards from the skies. Mario pulled out the pocket watch given to him by Sophos. The clock face glowed a dark blue color, and the hands ticked by slowly. Mario just kept looking at the pocket watch – nothing else seemed to matter in that particular moment. The hands ticked by slower and slower, until they finally just stopped ticking. Surprised by this realization, he looked up. The blades of the windmill weren't turning. Did the wind stop? No, it didn't. Luigi and Jennifer stood beside him, and they weren't moving either. _Everything_ stopped. He didn't understand why this was happening, but took the opportunity to see what he could do to stop Moe from destroying them. He walked back inside the windmill to see the frozen image of Moe getting up from his hole and heading towards the door. Maurice was elsewhere. Mario decided he could set a quick trap for Moe – he didn't know how long this apparent miracle would last, and he wasn't going to risk taking his time. Moe was just too tall to get a good jump on. But that wasn't a problem. Mario jumped his way up onto one of the blades outside of the windmill that was frozen in the air, and held on to it tightly. He looked back at the pocketwatch. The hands started to tick, slowly at first, but they picked up speed. Everything around him came back to life again. He could hear the stomping of Moe's footsteps coming towards the entrance of the windmill. He emerged from the entrance, and Mario jumped down and landed squarely on the top of Moe's head, pushing down with all of his might.

"OOPH!" Moe fell to the ground with a giant thud, Mario landing gracefully between him and the others.

"Mario, you did it!" exclaimed Jennifer.

"Nice going, bro!" said Luigi. "Wait, how did you get up there so fast? You were right next to me just a few moments ago."

"I'll explain later," said Mario. Maurice came out from the windmill holding his head with his hand.

"So...dizzy..." said Maurice.

"Are you alright?" said Jennifer.

"I'll be alright, I just really hit Moe hard back then. I think...I'll...take a nap now..." He collapsed to the ground in fatigue.

"Maurice!" said a voice from off in the distance. It was Violet. "My Maurice, what happened?" She ran to his side. There was no answer. "Oh, my sweet Maurice. How could this happen? I'm sorry for my outburst, I just couldn't bear the thought of another taking you from me, but now look what I have done!" She sobbed exaggeratedly, and collapsed next to him. Jennifer spoke up.

"Violet, Maurice is just fine—"

"This is all my fault. If I had just listened to him, he would—"

"Violet! He's fine!"

"What is the point of living on anymore? Please, red plumber, end my game!"

"Whoa!" said Mario and took a step back.

"Let's not jump to conclusions now. I'm sure Maurice is fine, he just—"

"Yes, he was a fine gentleman, but now he is _dead!"_

"No, I mean he is alive. He just took a little blow to the head and fainted is all, that's it."

"...what?" she replied, and sniffled. Maurice started to get up from the ground.

"Oh, Maurice! You're not dead!" She hugged him, sending them both back to the ground. Jennifer just rolled her eyes at the whole exchange.

"Well there's a happy ending for you. Something seems familiar about all this, but I can't quite put my finger on it...oh well. Mario, how did you do that?" said Jennifer.

"The pocket watch Sophos gave me...it allowed me to stop time."

"What? No way, that's totally amazing! Can I try?" Mario took out the pocket watch, but it no longer glowed.

"It looks like it won't work anymore," said Mario. "We should bring it back to Sophos to see what's wrong with it."

"Good plan, bro, but we still need to find the missing cog," said Luigi. Maurice got up and came over to them.

"Here you go," said Maurice as he held out his paw. On it was the golden cog. It was only a few inches wide, and shimmered in the moonlight. Luigi accepted it and put it into his overall pocket.

"Thanks for defeating Moe for us," said Maurice. "I think it's about time our clan got a new leader – me!"

"But...Maurice," said Violet. "The people in both of our villages aren't just going to live together in harmony. Let's face it – not all Monty Moles and Prairie Dayzees get along together. We're two in a million. Let's run away together and explore the world!"

"You're welcome to come along with us if you want," said Mario.

"...but somebody has to lead the Monty Moles," said Maurice. "I can't just leave my friends behind. They'll be counting on me."

"Are you sure, Maurice? I...I love you, but I want to leave this place and explore the world. There's just...nothing for me here but you." Maurice stood for a moment in thought.

"Then I'll always be here for you when you come back." They hugged, and Violet went off with Mario, Luigi and Jennifer.

"I love you, babe!" said Maurice.

"I'll write often!" replied Violet.

"Well Violet," said Jennifer, "Congratulations! You're part of the team now."

They walked back towards the Dayzee village in the blackness of the night. With the first golden cog in hand, their adventure was underway and beginning to pick up speed. Crickets played in a chorus of chirps under the starry nighttime sky.

_Invidus sat on top a black throne in the middle of a tall, circular room. In each corner, the seasons were represented by different colors and designs in the floor and walls as well as many other things. In the spring corner was a grassy region with wavy grass, a tree and flowing water. In the summer, there was a large pool of water with a sandy beach and palm trees. In the fall were several red and orange trees. The leaves fell downwards to the ground perpetually, never running out. In the winter section, flakes of snow fluttered down into large drifts. All four regions surrounded the center of the room where Invidus sat in his throne. Its black and sleek look made it seem out of place. Way up above on the ceiling was another giant clock, but it didn't tell time. Its back was completely clear and let the sunlight shine in. The shadows cast by the single clock hand overlaid the floor of the room, indicating the season. The shadow was currently on the verge between fall and winter. There was another, smaller hand on the giant clock as well. It had marks on each quarter circle, where the 3, 6, 9 and 12 would be if it were a normal clock. Instead, there was 2500, 5000, 7500 and 10000, indicating the years passed. This hand was also on the verge. It was extremely close to the 10000 year mark, but not quite there._

_"Patience, my dear," said Invidus as he talked to himself. "Patience is a virtue I've never seemed to care for."_


	6. Interlude 1 Part 1 :: A Page Unfolds

**Author's Note:** This interlude just sort of happened...like...really fast. No writers block this time, and there's quite a lot more detail revealed about the story! Thanks for reading this far!

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><p>Interlude One Part One :: Another Page Unfolds<p>

The quartet of adventurers stood on the pedestal before the gate to Contineous, the world between worlds. As Mario pulled out the pocket watch, the clock face glowed pure white, and the big clock in front of them glowed similarly and became liquid-like. Jennifer and Violet were more shocked than Mario and Luigi, as they hadn't yet seen it before. They walked boldly forward into the clock, and emerged once again into Contineous, where Sophos would be waiting for them.

"Ah, I see you've finally returned," said Sophos. He walked over to them. "Have you found the first golden cog?"

"We have," said Luigi as he pulled it out of his pocket. "It's right here."

"Great work, adventurers. Go ahead and place the first cog on the other gate." Luigi walked over to the other clock at the opposite end of the room. There were four pegs on which to place the cogs, each different sizes. He found the one that fit the cog he had and placed it firmly into position. Without hesitation, the cog started to spin clockwise.

"It worked!" said Luigi.

"Yes!" said Jennifer.

"Now that you've placed the first cog, the pocket watch I gave you should possess more power," said Sophos. Mario took it out of his pocket.

"Earlier, when we were in trouble, the pocket watch made time stand still," said Mario. "But I can't get it to do it anymore."

"Interesting," said Sophos. "That is quite peculiar. I didn't think there was enough power to perform that ability, but perhaps in your time of peril the watch gained just enough to use it. Well, regardless, it should have the ability to stop time anytime now."

"Really?" said Jennifer. "That's amazing! It seems a bit too amazing, actually. Couldn't we just stop time _all_ the time?"

"Absolutely not!" said Sophos, his voice echoed throughout the corridor. "Stopping time for too long is much too dangerous. The longer you stay in suspended time, the harder it becomes to get out. The pocket watch has to recharge its power in order to retain its abilities, and if you spend too long in stopped time, you won't have enough to return to normality."

"...and then what happens?" said Luigi.

"You end up in what is called Constus Temporus, or stopped time, forever."

"Is that what happened to you, Sophos?" said Jennifer.

"In a way, but I chose willingly to enter Constus Temporus here in Contineous to offer my sagely advice to those who want to pass between worlds, as well as to guard them. It can be a boring life, but very rewarding."

"How do we know when it's too late to return to normal time?" said Mario.

"When you enter Constus Temporus, the hands of the clock will represent the power remaining. You can think of it like a fuel gauge. When the time reads 6:00, you have half power. When the time reads 12:00, you will no longer be able to return and it will remain at 12:00 forever. I wish you the best of luck in finding the next golden cog, adventurers. The road ahead will become more difficult, but I have confidence that you can overcome any obstacle."

"Thank you, Sophos," said Mario as they entered back through the clock and into Tempora Town once again. The sun shone brightly into their eyes as they emerged from Tempora Hall and back into the bustling streets of the town.

"Oh, there you are, Mario and friends!" said Toadsworth from down the street. He hustled over to them. "Did you find the first missing cog?"

"Yep!" said Luigi.

"That's great news, and I see you've gained a following," said Toadsworth as he looked at Violet. She stood quietly in the back of the group.

"Hi, I'm Violet."

"Nice to meet you, Violet. Now, I have some important discoveries I'd like to share with you all," said Toadsworth. "In the time you were gone, I learned a lot more about this town and its history, and I think it is of utmost importance that you know about it before continuing on with finding the missing cogs!"

"Sure thing, Toadsworth. What have you got to tell us?" said Jennifer. She pulled out her notepad.

"Well, first things first, the barrier that you spoke of – the one that appeared 10,000 years ago – It's back again! Just last night, it appeared out of nowhere once again, just like before. I've made the deduction that the barrier only lasts for 10,000 years at a time, and for brief window right before the end of the cycle, it opens up. That window was during our arrival into Tempora, now isn't that quite the coincidence!"

"_Quite_ the coincidence," said Jennifer. "The odds of that happening are astronomically small. It's almost as if you were all meant to come here then. Fate, if you will."

"Possibly," said Toadsworth. "Or maybe something or someone else played a part. But regardless, we're not leaving Tempora anytime soon, so I sure hope that collecting the four missing cogs will open up that barrier or we won't be going home...or finding the princess."

"Did you find out anything about Peach?" said Mario.

"...sadly, I did not. I searched all throughout the town for answers but turned up nothing. I was hoping you'd come back with some more information. But alas, you must continue onwards to find the next missing cog. The first region you visited was the spring region, so I see it only to be fitting that you go to the summer region next."

"Oh, that sounds lovely!" said Jennifer. Everyone looked at her, wondering why she was so happy.

"Oh!" she said. "You all probably don't know about the Comfort Cruise in Aestasi, the summer region. It travels from the harbor to Insula, a big island out in the ocean. It's the most luxurious way for water travel in all of Tempora, and the only one at that. No hot air balloon could make it to that island, with the crazy weather out there on the seas."

"Cruise ship? Count me in!" said Luigi.

"Me as well!" said Toadsworth. "Who could resist a vacation within a vacation!"

"I guess it's settled then," said Jennifer. "We'll be taking a trip on the Comfort Cruise!" They all cheered in happiness. A little vacation in the midst of their perilous adventure certainly couldn't hurt, and besides, it was the only way to reach Insula safely.

"Where do we get tickets?" said Mario. Everyone sank down a little.

"Oh yeah..." sighed Jennifer. "The cruise isn't exactly cheap. But that shouldn't be a problem, right Mario? You must be rich from all of your adventures and whatnot, right?"

"You'd think that..." he replied, "but for some reason, I'm always broke at the start of every one."

"Well, maybe we can find the money some _other_ way," said Violet quietly. Everyone looked at her.

"Well?" said Jennifer. "Go ahead, what's your idea?"

"Well, I have something that's probably pretty valuable..." she replied as she pulled out a extraordinarily beautiful flower. It was white and had six curling petals sprawling out in each direction, with deep, red swirls decorating each one. It had a healthy glow, and looked amazing. "This is the most beautiful flower I've ever grown. It's extremely rare, so it must be worth something. I've held onto it for years and its never wilted."

"Are you sure you're willing to sell it?" said Jennifer. "We can find another way, if it really means something to you."

"No, it's okay," she replied. "I can part with it for a good cause."

"Okay. Thanks, Violet. I know exactly where we can go to sell this," said Jennifer. "There's a great fortune teller I know of called Merlia, and she might have a good use for it."

So they walked the streets of Tempora Town in search for Merlia, and came up to the dark purple tent she had set up. Stars and swirls decorated the fabric, and a bright light emanated from within the blackness of the entrance.

"Hello, guests," said Merlina. "What brings you to my fortune-telling tent?"

"It's me, Merlina," said Jennifer.

"Ah, my sweet Jennifer. Have you come to have your fortune retold? How's the search for love going, dear?"

"Shh!" said Jennifer. "That's...not what I'm here for this time. We've got something I think you might like to buy."

"Alright, but I must say it's a bit rude to try to sell something in the business place of another..." Violet pulled out the flower. "OH MY, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL," said Merlina. "Is that the Aeturnium Flower – the flower that never wilts?"

"Yes," said Violet. "I found it one day in my garden, all by its lonesome." She handed the flower to Merlina, who held it delicately in her hands.

"This is quite a rare flower," said Merlina. "I would pay a hefty price for it. How does 999 coins sound?"

"That sounds fine with me," said Jennifer. "It would be more than enough to buy us all tickets for the Comfort Cruise."

"Here you go, darling," said Merlina, handing her a bag of golden coins. She could barely lift it. Mario grabbed it and put it somewhere safe. "Thanks for your business! Are you sure you don't want your fortune told again, my Jenny?"

"Yes, I'm sure..." she blushed as they left the tent.

* * *

><p><em>Peach awoke atop a sleek, grey bed. She was in a sort of cell, but it was completely furnished and the bed was semi-comfortable. Everything was grey and linear and seemed completely out of place. She tried opening the door, and was surprised it wasn't locked. Outside of the room was the large circular room and the black throne sitting in the middle of it. Everything was so colorful and beautiful except for the throne. She walked around the perimeter of the room for a few minutes, exploring the little worlds that represented each season, until Invidus appeared.<em>

_ "Hello, princess," he said. "I hope you slept well. You are indeed my prisoner, but I hope you appreciate the work I've done to make sure you're comfortable, now that I can keep you secure." He seemed so sincere in the way he spoke._

_ "Well, I won't be your prisoner for long," she replied indignantly. "Mario will come and save me and stop whatever it is you're planning on doing."_

_ "Ah ha ha ha, that thought amuses me. And I'm not planning anymore – it's already been done. The Aeturnum Clock has already begun anew, and the barrier is back in place. The time of transition is only a few weeks long and as soon as it is over, the gate between worlds will be destroyed beyond repair. Your supposed heroes stand no chance at getting here in time."_

_ "Then why am I here?" said Peach. "Why do you need me here if your evil plan is already finished?"_

_ "I misspoke my apologies. My plan is almost complete. I still have plans for you, my dear."_

_ "And what kind of plans are those?"_

_ "Ah ha ha ha! Believe it or not, princess, you'll play an important role in the separation of these worlds. Are you familiar with the story of the seasons?"_

_ "No..."_

_ "Ahem...allow me to tell you the story of the seasons then, my dear. The seasons are something that happens in your pathetic world. They don't happen here. Everything is perfect in my world, unlike yours, and all inhabitants here possess great magical powers. But there is something, or rather, was something, important that kept the seasons in balance in your world. There exist two lovers whose love was so great it could not be matched. Alone, they were of average magical ability, but together, their love penetrated into your world to create the seasons and allow life to exist there. Without the two lovers, your world would fall into an endless winter once again."_

_ "Why...why would you want to destroy such a beautiful thing?" said Peach._

_ "Please allow me to finish, princess...you see, the thing about love is that, when someone has so much love for another, it puts them into a great place of weakness. Without their returning embrace, it can completely and utterly DESTROY someone." His voice boomed throughout the room and he raised his hands up into the air, his black cloak draping downwards. "This only applies to us here in this perfect world, however. You mortals could not possibly be able to comprehend the fullness of their love, not even a little bit."_

_ "Then why am I here?" said Peach. "If you don't tell me, I'll—"_

_ "I'll tell you exactly why you're here," said Invidus. "You're here because you have something rare within you. A pureness of heart, that is. I, you see, have quite the opposite heart of yours, and I'm completely willing to admit it. It is broken. Completely to pieces." His voice became soft and lowered, but then it rose again. "And THAT is why you're here. I'll break your heart, and not in the way you're thinking, believe me. I will destroy your heart so that, together, I'll have enough power to destroy the gate between worlds once and for all! Ah ha ha ha!"_

_ "...you...monster..." said Peach quietly._

_ "__Tell that to the one I once loved," he replied. "She is the real monster."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Note:<em>**A bit of a longer chapter! And a longer backstory interlude as well! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm really excited to start writing the next one - it's going to be a bit of a parody/inspiration to the Excess Express chapter of Paper Mario : The Thousand Year Door. But for now, I hope you enjoyed the unfolding of plot points in the first between-chapter interlude!


	7. Interlude 1 Part 2 :: Air Aestasi

**Author's Note:** And here's the remainder of the interlude! There are lots of characters introduced in this chapter, and I'm really excited to start writing the next actual chapter. Prepare yourselves and pay attention in the reading, because the next chapter's theme is _Mystery Novel :D_

* * *

><p>Interlude One Part Two :: Air Aestasi<p>

"I can't believe we're going on a _cruise_," said Jennifer. "I'm buried waist deep in student loans for the university, so I could never afford something like this." Jennifer was going through her office in preparation for the cruise. She practically lived there. "Now, where is that sharpener..." she said as she opened up several drawers in succession, glancing briefly into each one. Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth and Violet just stood awkwardly in her office in anticipation. Even on a vacation, Jennifer couldn't pass up taking notes about everything. It was her passion, and she was good at it. "I found it!" she exclaimed, and put it in a small bag with the rest of the items she was bringing. "I'm all set to go now if you are." Everyone nodded. On the way out, they passed by the Lightning Flower exhibit again. Mario and Luigi eyed it admiringly.

"Don't even think about borrowing one of those power-ups," said Jennifer. "They're still in the development phase."

"Actually, they're in beta testing now," said a Goomba wearing a small pair of spectacles. "I'm Goomley by the way. We worked out the kinks and side effects. Mostly, at least. You _shouldn't_ die if you use it now."

"These two could be your beta testers," said Jennifer as she pointed to Mario and Luigi.

"Yeah, we're power-up pros!" said Luigi.

"Hmm, you two _do_ look like the power-up type...burly, muscular...and you've both got great staches," said the Goomba. "Alright, but I'll need you to sign these waivers. Oh, and these liability papers. And also the master contract." He handed them a thick stack of papers each. "Sign here, dot there, and we're good to go."

"Okey-dokey..." said Mario as he signed the papers.

"Glad to have you on the team," said Goomley. "I'll give you one Lightning Flower each, as they're quite powerful. All I ask is that after you've used them in your adventures, report back to me alright? Great, thanks."

It was now time for them to make their way to Aestasi, the summer region. Unlike Verion, Aestasi wasn't within walking distance, unless you had lots of time on your hands. So, they ventured over to the southeast quarter of Tempora Town to get to the hot air balloon depot. It was noon, and there were several hot air balloons floating high above them. Swirly designs, suns, leaves and stars decorated every balloon uniquely. The hot air balloon depot was a monstrosity of a building. It was an elongated building with a curved glass roof and openings of different sizes for the balloons to fly through. A large stone staircase trimmed the entire width of the building and led up to the three grand entrances. Inside, there were hundreds of different people of all different shapes, sizes and races. Goombas, koopas, toads, bob-ombs, boos, yoshis and so much more.

"There's a sign for Aestasi," said Jennifer. They followed the signs and eventually found themselves at the admissions gate for a hot air balloon ride.

"Hello and welcome to the one and only hot air balloon depot of Tempora," said the woman at the ticket counter, rather monotonously. "It'll be 20 coins per person, human or creature." Mario handed the woman 100 coins.

"Thank you. Please continue forward into the boarding zone." Ahead of them was a larger hot air balloon, or more accurately, a blimp. A yellow shining sun decorated the balloon to represent that they were going to Aestasi. They entered the blimp and sat down in their seats.

"Good afternoon passengers, this is your captain speaking," said the captain over the intercom. "The total flight time to Aestasi seaport is approximately four hours. We will be providing a complimentary mushroom and beverage service as soon as we reach proper elevation. Our meal today is a Spicy Mushroom and Tasty Tonic. Thank you for flying Air Aestasi and we hope you have a pleasant flying experience with us today."

"I've had the Spicy Mushroom," said a woman in front of them. "It's absolutely terrible; they should be ashamed of it being on their menu at all." The woman talking was a pink Boo wearing an intricate diamond necklace and a fancy purple hat.

"I beg to differ," said a Koopa sitting back and to the left of them, in a white lab coat with safety goggles around his neck. "The spiciness of the Spicy Mushroom perfectly balances with the sparkling citrus flavor of the Tasty Tonic."

"Oh, and I suppose you're a food connoisseur, right?" responded the Boo.

"No, I'm a scientist, but I know good food when I taste it!" responded the Koopa.

"Well I think—" The captain interrupted on the intercom.

"We'll now be lifting off and heading to Aestasi," said the captain.

"Excuse me," said a Yoshi with a slow, soothing voice from way in the back of the cabin. "But I happen to be an actual chef, and I have to say I agree with the Koopa in the lab coat on this."

"Ha!" exclaimed the Koopa, pointing at the pink Boo.

"Well, fine then," she responded. "But I want to see some paperwork on you later, mister so-called chef guy." The balloon began to ascend out of the station and up through the roof of the building and into the wide blue skies. There wasn't a cloud in sight as they headed southeast towards Aestasi. After several minutes had passed, the food service made its way down the aisle. When it got to the Boo, she rather rudely declined. The Koopa took the meal and grinned tauntingly at her. A Toad with brown spots wearing a fancy, dark grey shirt sitting across the aisle politely declined the service. He had a magnifying glass placed on his tray table.

"No thanks, I'm much too busy right now," he said. He was staring intently at a notepad full of scribbles and diagrams. "No, no, no. That can't be right..." he said to himself quietly and tapped his pencil a few times. "If the banana peel was found in the supply closet, the bellman _couldn't _have been the burglar...hmm, this is quite the conundrum." The toad was getting weird looks from a female Pianta with a sunhat sitting next to him. The Pianta shuffled a few inches away. "_Unless..._" said the Toad, "...unless the burglar _wanted_ the banana peel to be found in the supply closet, in which case...AH HA!" Several passengers in the nearby vicinity of the Toad jumped a little in surprise at the sudden outburst of volume. "My apologies fellow passengers," said the Toad. "Another case closed by The Great Toad Detective known as..." he paused. "...Chris T., or just Christopher for short." He laughed briefly at his own joke. The passengers went back to staring mindlessly at the back of their seats and out the windows.

"So, Chris T," said Jennifer.

"Christopher," corrected Christopher.

"Right, Christopher. What was the mystery you solved, anyways?"

"Ah, I can see the curiosity piquing from your eyes," said Christopher. "I've been working on this case for several weeks now, so I am greatly relieved to have closed it. You see, it was a battle of wits and I was determined to be the victor. The Great Toad Detective wasn't about to be fooled...but it wasn't easy...and...then the burglar...stolen briefcase...banana peel...and then I finally figured out who the culprit was. Miss? Excuse me? Young miss, you seem to have dozed off."

"Oh...sorry," said Jennifer, awoken from a brief boredom-induced slumber.

"Your loss," he replied. "It's a great story."

The rest of the flight was mostly uneventful. As they approached their destination, they could see the crescent-shaped coastline of Aestasi off the right side of the cabin. Sandy beaches packed full with umbrellas and tourists dotted border between land and sea. It was like another world within Tempora, complete with a luxurious coastline resort and various other amenities. But that wasn't where they were going. The blimp descended downwards towards the seaport, a smaller set of buildings compared to the hot air balloon depot in Tempora Town. The blimp touched down like a feather.

"Welcome to Aestasi Seaport," announced the captain. The cabin doors slid open and the passengers all left the blimp in a hurry.

"It's about time," said the pink Boo, waving her arm to fan her face. "It took four hours and _fifteen_ minutes to get here." They left the blimp and walked over to the Comfort Cruise cruise ship. It was rather large. There were four separate levels – the upper deck and lower deck, which were both exposed to open air, and two lower levels. Two big smokestacks ascended high into the air on the backside of the ship. A long wooden ramp was laid out from the lower deck to the ground level where passengers were about to begin boarding.

"It looks like we made it here just in time," said Toadsworth. "Looking back, we probably should have checked the schedule."

"Well, I'm glad we made it," said Luigi. They paid for their tickets, 100 coins each, and made their way up the thin, long ramp. The water far below them lapped against the edges of the seaport and the warm salty breeze of the ocean swept past their noses.

* * *

><p><em>Amori was stranded in the world she was sent to. Ever since Invidus had forced her through the portal, she had been walking and traveling east. It was 10,000 years before present time. In this barren land, she walked and walked. For many years she wandered, with only the loving memory of her Vallus to comfort her. She wondered what he must be thinking, or trying to do to save her, but in her wandering, she came across a dusty old pocketwatch, half buried in the dirt. She picked it up, and dusted it off. There was something familiar about the pocketwatch, she thought. It was the clock face – it was exactly the same as the clock face she saw when Invidus sent her here. Knowing a bit of magic, she attempted to renew the powers of the pocketwatch she had in her hands. The hands of the clock spun around and the pocketwatch shimmered. Something about this is important, thought Amori. She stared intently into it, and the hands began to tick slower and slower with every passing moment, until time itself stood still. The hands stopped at a seemingly random time – 11:55. Now they inched forwards, but time remained at a standstill. Amori just stood stunned at the revelation of what was happening, but by the time she realized what was happening, the time the clock read was 12:00.<em>


	8. CH2 Part 1 :: Comfort Cruise Conumdrum

**Author's Note: **Finally, I release the next segment! I hope you enjoy what I've written. I tried harder to slow the pace down and not to rush so much.

* * *

><p>Chapter Two Part One :: The Comfort Cruise Conundrum<p>

_COMFORT CRUISE, DAY ONE_

After boarding the cruise ship and being escorted to their rooms, they could finally relax and enjoy their time. The ship had departed from the seaport and they were on their way to Insula Island. IT would take a few days to get there. Toadsworth had a room to himself, Jennifer and Violet shared a room, and Mario and Luigi had room 128, a room on the lowest floor with a bunk bed. The upper floors cost too many coins, so the lowest, least fancy rooms were all they could afford. A round porthole gave them an underwater view a ways down from the surface. A few small fishes swam by occasionally.

"Just like home, eh bro?" said Luigi as he climbed up to the top bunk.

"Just like home," said Mario. He lay down for a second to enjoy not having to think about anything, until someone knocked on the door. He got up to answer it. It was the Toad Detective, Chris T. from on the blimp.

"Hello again, strangers," said Christopher. "I saw you enter your room and couldn't help but notice we're neighbors on this delightful cruise."

"I'm Mario and this is my brother Luigi," said Mario.

"Nice to meet you two. If you ever feel like coming in for a chat, I'm in room 129."

"Thanks Chris," said Luigi.

"Christopher," corrected Christopher, and left the room.

"I'm going to take a nap, bro," said Luigi.

"Okay," responded Mario. He left the room to do a little bit of exploring. He started by first heading up to the top of the cruise ship, where most of the amenities were located. There was a large, sprawling tropical themed restaurant area open to the air and covered by a straw rooftop. People of all different varieties sat at tables eating delicious food. Mario sat down to order something and a Koopa waiter came to his table. He wore a fancy white shirt and carried a silver platter in one of his hands with a couple of fancy drinks resting on top.

"Hello sir, and welcome to the Comfort Food Cafe. My name is Koopler, and I'll be your server today. Can I start you off with a Tasty Tonic or perhaps a Super Soda?"

"I'll take a Super Soda," said Mario.

"And for the main dish?"

"The Lavish Lasagna, please."

"Yes sir, right away." Koopler began to leave, but stopped and returned to Mario. "Excuse me for asking, but you look like a plumber – we have a serious clog in one of our sinks, would you mind taking a look at it?" Mario sighed. Even on a vacation _within_ a vacation, he had to do work.

"Sure thing," he replied and followed Koopler through a swinging door into the kitchen. Inside, several chefs and other workers slaved away over meals and cleaned dishes. The air was hot and moist. He passed by the Yoshi chef that was on the blimp with them. He looked like he was working hard, so Mario didn't say anything.

"Here's the sink," said Koopler. Mario bent down under the sink and unscrewed the pipe. It was completely clogged. He unscrewed the other end of the pipe and pushed whatever was clogging it through the other side until it popped out and landed on the floor with a wet plop.

"Ew, what is that?" said Koopler.

"I think it's a potato," said Mario.

"Well, whatever it is, thanks for your help. If there's anything we can do to make your cruise more enjoyable, let us know."

"How about a discount?"

"Sorry, no discounts."

"Okay then," responded Mario. He left the kitchen and sat back down at his table. A few minutes later, his meal arrived and he chowed down, savoring every bite.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Jennifer and Violet were indoors and sitting in the lobby area to a luxurious spa. They had just gotten out and were talking.<p>

"It feels so great to just do_ nothing_," said Jennifer. "I can't remember the last time I took a day off."

"You should try it more often," said Violet. "Every day is a day off if you're doing something you love. For me, its gardening. My flower collection is the biggest in town." Violet didn't talk much, but when she did it was always nice to see how happy she was. She really was beautiful. _Maybe that's why Maurice was so crazy about her,_ thought Jennifer. Her mind went back to the conversation.

"I do love being a journalist," said Jennifer, "but it's tiring sometimes. I don't get out much, at least not until I met Mario and his friends."

"Me too," said Violet. There was a pause, but their conversation began again as they noticed the pink Boo from the blimp ride come out from the spa area.

"_She's_ on this cruise, too?" said Jennifer. "Ugh..." The Boo floated over to Jennifer and Violet, somehow managing to do it in a snobbish manner. Her diamond necklace glimmered.

"Good afternoon, ladies," said the Boo. "Weren't you on the blimp earlier today?"

"Yes, we were," said Jennifer, containing her distaste in meeting her.

"I thought it so," she replied. "My name is Bella," said Bella. "Do you know who I am?"

"...Bella?" responded Jennifer, confused by the question.

"No, you don't understand my question," said Bella. "I am a movie star – the _queen _of _beauty_ is my screen name, you see."

"We see," said Jennifer.

"Good," said Bella, flatly. "Because there can only be _one queen of beauty_, and it's me." Bella eyed Violet briefly, striking a sharp glance and then floated away, leaving Jennifer and Violet slightly confused and annoyed.

"What was she talking about?" said Violet. Jennifer knew what Bella was talking about.

"She's jealous of your looks," said Jennifer.

"Me, really?" She put her hand to her mouth in slight surprise.

"Yes, really. Seeing she's not the best thing in the entire world should be good for her," said Jennifer.

* * *

><p>COMFORT CRUISE, EVENING ONE<p>

The sun was setting over the endless ocean of water, causing the water on the edge of the horizon to look orange and glowing. The evening air was starting to cool down as the sun dipped below the horizon. Everyone but Mario and Toadsworth had returned to their rooms to wind down for the night, but they stayed up a bit longer out on top of the ship under the starry night sky and the soft sound of waves rippling way below them. They were mostly alone out on the deck, and were talking about their journey so far.

"I can't help but worry about the princess," said Toadsworth worriedly. Mario was used to his usual worriedness, but this was a bit different. Normally when things went worse, it was because of some plot against them by Bowser, or the princess running off somewhere she shouldn't have gone alone. But this time, she vanished right in front of their very eyes. Toadsworth couldn't help but feel responsible for the loss of Peach, and it certainly didn't help that they had no idea where she was.

"It'll be alright," said Mario. "We always end up saving her, and this time it's not just me."

"Oh, yes, I'm glad we have you Mario," said Toadsworth. He really meant it. "But I still can't help but be worried...where could she be?"

"Sophos said she's in the _other world_, wherever that is," replied Mario. He was beginning to get worried too. He took the pocket watch out of his pocket and looked at it in his hand. Sophos said he could use it to stop time itself, but only for a small amount of time. He thought about using it, but there was no reason to yet. _What other powers could this pocket watch possess, _thought Mario. Sophos said it hadn't reached its full potential yet, and with the collection of the cogs it would gain more abilities. _What could be more powerful than stopping time,_ he thought again. Toadsworth interrupted his thoughts by continuing the conversation.

"Well, I wholeheartedly believe you'll find the way, Mario. I'm going to go off to bed now and get some much needed rest. I plan on doing some very serious vacationing in the morning, but as soon as we're off this boat, it's back to adventuring mode."

"Good night, Toadsworth."

"Good night, Mario." Mario sat under the stars for a few brief moments. Suddenly, he noticed a figure move through the corner of his vision. It had some sort of bag slumped over its back as it darted into a nearby doorway. Mario immediately got up, quietly, and followed the figure. The doorway led immediately to a maintenance stairwell. Several floors downwards, the figure was making its way to the bottom. Mario tried as best as he could to avoid making a noise, but the metal stairs were slightly wet and he slipped a little bit, sending a metallic clank echoing throughout the stairwell. The figure stopped moving for a second, and then continued faster down the stairs and into another doorway. Shortly after, Mario arrived at the bottom of the stairwell. He tried opening the door, but whoever it was he was chasing had locked it. There was nothing he could do but return to the top, so he did. Upon opening up the door to the main deck, he was immediately confronted by Christopher, the Toad Detective.

"Oh my," said Christopher. "What brings you here this fine evening, neighbor?"

"I was..." Mario wasn't sure what to say. "...I was just enjoying the evening air." Christopher didn't seem fooled.

"Come on, now. Spit it out. You can't deceive a great detective, you know."

"I saw a mysterious figure make off with a sack of something, so I followed them," said Mario.

"Intriguing..." said Christopher. "This looks like a job for The Great Toad Detective! Tell me, Mario, can you describe this figure to me?" Mario had no idea what they looked like. They were too far away, and there just wasn't enough light to see any distinguishing features.

"I couldn't tell," said Mario.

"Then we'll have to search for more clues, I suppose. You'll be my apprentice, Mario. I know a good detective when I see one. You go ahead and rest up for the night. We'll begin our serious investigation in the wee hours of the morning." Mario did as Christopher said and went back to his room. It was getting very late, and Luigi was snoring loudly from the top bunk when he got back. He slid into the covers and drifted off to sleep after a few minutes. He dreamed of Princess Peach that night. In his dream, she was locked away in some sort of magical chamber, unable to escape. The room she was in was a catastrophe – a colossal clash of the seasons. A storm raged within the confines of the room, blending the bright and vibrant colors of the room into the center, seeping from the edges of the room and into the center where they combined to form an enlarging black mass. Peach hung tightly to a tree bending beneath the ripping winds of the vortex, until her grip loosened and she was sent tumbling into the darkness. At her final moment, the void sucked her up and the room went deafeningly silent. A figure emerged from the void, the blackness of the clouds draped around his body like a cape. The only hint of color lay in his pale, sorrow-ridden eyes.

* * *

><p>Mario woke up from his nightmare in the middle of the night. Luigi was still sleeping soundly on the bunk above him. <em>We need to find the princess<em>, thought Mario. Time was passing slowly with every passing moment, but Peach was still yet to be found, and time was starting to run out.

* * *

><p>No end-of-chapter interlude this time (sorry), but it was sort of replaces with Mario's dream anyways.<p> 


	9. CH2 Part 2 :: Detective Work

**Author's Note:** FINALLY. I've got the next chapter up! I don't want this fanfic to wither away into oblivion - I may not be able to churn out chapters as fast as I could during the Summer, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop. The one thing that _really_ helps me to keep writing is your reviews. After more than a month of not getting reviews, I got one a little while ago, and that was enough for me to want to get back into writing again. So, thank you very much if you leave a review. Anyways - enjoy the chapter!

COMFORT CRUISE, DAY TWO

The early morning sun shone up through the calm, blue water for a moment as it passed through the horizon, casting an orange haze over the waves. The air was calm and cool out on the surface of the ship. Mario and Luigi were sleeping soundly in their cabin when suddenly, somebody knocked three times on the metal door.

A voice called out, muffled by the door, "Mario? Are you ready to begin our investigation?" It was Christopher. Mario slumped out of his bed and sauntered over towards the door, eyes drooping heavily. _I Guess he wasn't kidding about getting up early_, he thought as he opened the door. "Ah, good," said Christopher. "I see you're ready. I did some brief investigating after you left last night. I hope you don't mind. After speaking with some of the kitchen staff, they informed me that a sack of potatoes went missing yesterday. Do you know what this proves?" Mario looked tiredly at Christopher. He stopped talking and didn't know why. "I see you're still half-asleep, my apprentice. No worries, you'll perk up in a few minutes I'm sure. Do you remember what you said about the mysterious figure last night? He, well...she, er..._it_ was carrying something lumpy on its back, and I deduce that it must have been the missing stack of _potatoes!_" He emphasized the word 'potatoes' quite loudly and it echoed down the narrow corridor. "The investigation is afoot, my apprentice. Let us begin!" They started walking down the corridor and up the stairs. Upon reaching the floor of rooms, suddenly a blue viscous liquid suddenly started seeping out from one of the rooms to their left. "Heavens!" exclaimed Christopher. "What is going on here?" A plea answered his exclamation from within the room.

"Help!" yelled the voice. Mario went up to the door, walking through the mysterious, blue liquid. It squished about under his leather boots. He opened the metal door with a creak to see a giant mess of the blue goop splattered throughout the entire room. A Koopa in a white lab coat, although it covered nearly completely with the blue goop, lay frazzled against the bedframe.

"What in heaven's name is going on here?" asked Christopher.

"I-I was just working on my research, mixing together some chemicals and had the window open to vent out the fumes when all of a sudden, an old _boot_ flew into my window and knocked over a beaker into the vial I was using and, well, you can deduce the rest." He pointed to a moldy old boot splattered with the mystery liquid.

"Deduce, I shall," said Christopher. "The vial knocking over into the beaker almost certainly caused the explosivity of this slimy, blue catastrophe! Except...how could a shoe have flown into the room? There would be nowhere for it to be thrown from." The room was silent for a few moments.

"...yes, that's probably what happened," said the Koopa as he got up out the goop. "My name is Antony. I'm a research scientist at UT, but they're sending me out into the field on Insula to do my research there."

"What kind of research?" asked Christopher, suspiciously.

"I'd tell you, but it's confidential." Christopher frowned.

"Confidential or not, that makes you a prime subject," he replied sternly.

"Prime subject for _what?_" said Antony.

"I'll be taking a sample of this goop for further investigation, as _well_ as this boot. Good day, Antony." Christopher gave a stern glance as they left the room, leaving Antony behind in the goopy mess. "Clues are starting to pop up like daisies, Mario," said Christopher. "The missing sack of potatoes, and now this sudden goopy mess. The real question is who is behind these two, seemingly separate events? Shoes don't just go flying into windows, you know. Either someone _deliberately_ sabotaged Antony's experiment, or Antony _himself_ isn't telling us something...intriguing..." Mario nodded in agreement. "Perhaps that snobbish Boo we met on the Blimp could be responsible for this mishap – she did seem quite perturbed by Antony, here. What do you think, Mario? You haven't said a word since, well...last night, I just noticed." Mario nodded again, still trying to wake up.

"Ah, what a beautiful morning," said Jennifer calmly. She and Violet were out on the deck soaking up sunrays.

"Ab-sol-utely," replied Violet. She laid back and pondered for a few moments. "Hey, Jennifer, can Goombas get sunburnt?"

Jennifer paused for a moment. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen a sunburnt Goomba...I guess not!"

"Interesting..." said Violet. "I wonder why that is?"

"Yeah, me too," replied Jennifer. She tried to think of something interesting to say, but nothing came to mind. "This is kind of boring...want to go do something else?"

"Let's go!" exclaimed Violet as she popped up out of her chair to leave. They decided to go down to the lower deck that went along the contour of the ship to look at the waves. Rows and rows of wooden lifeboats were stacked up the sides of the ship above them. They were each affixed to a sort of pulley system that allowed them to travel vertically along the side of the ship, so they could be loaded at any level.

"Hey, look at that," said Jennifer.

"Look at what?" replied Violet. "I can't tell what you're gesturing towards, you know, no hands and all." Jennifer did a combination of rolling her eyes and glaring at Violet. "Oh, sorry. I forgot that was a touchy subject..."

"The _lifeboats_," said Jennifer. "There's one missing way up there."

"That's odd. Maybe they're using it for something?"

"What would they need a lifeboat for? Something seems fishy around here. We'd better go find Mario and see what's up."

"Agreed. But first, can we head over to the Snack Bar? I'm practically starving here."

It was early evening now, and everyone met at the buffet hall for dinner. Luigi and Toadsworth were already sitting at the table, seemingly discussing something. Luigi seemed bored out of his mind, since his brother was off investigating with Christopher the entire day. They had gone in search of more clues but didn't find anything of interest. Christopher had returned to his room to go over the evidence and study the mysterious blue goop. Mario entered the room with Jennifer and Violet and sat down with Luigi and Toadsworth.

"Hey, bro," said Mario as he pulled a chair out from the table.

"Hi," said Luigi flatly.

"Sorry I was gone all day, that Christopher guy kept on thinking he found more clues." Luigi looked perplexed.

"Clues?" questioned Luigi.

"Oh, I guess I haven't told you yet. I saw a mysterious figure last night make off with a sack of potatoes from the kitchen," said Mario. Luigi looked even more perplexed now.

"Potatoes?"

"Yep. Christopher has been taking me along everywhere in search of more clues."

"Even on a vacation, bro, you're hard at work doing _something_." Mario nodded. He always felt like if there was a problem, it was his job to fix it. "I hope you've gotten to relax at least a _little_ bit." The conversation ended. The others were talking about other things of no particular interest. As nice as this cruise was, everybody seemed to be looking forward to getting to Insula to find the next golden cog.

"Hey, there's Bella," said Violet, pointing a couple of tables over. She wore her sparkling diamond necklace and a fancy purple hat. The way her necklace managed to stay on her body was perplexing, since Boos don't have any sort of shoulder to speak of. Everyone around her seemed extremely rich and snobbish. The Yoshi Chef came out from the kitchen with a pen and notepad to take their orders.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Oliver McCormick and I'll be your server and chef tonight. What can I prepare for you from our fine assortment of meals?" said Oliver.

"I'll have the Shroom Roast," said Bella, "and make sure it's golden brown. If there are _any_ dark brown spots, I'll send it back."

"Got it, no brown spots," said Oliver, looking down and scribbling in his notepad. He looked up at who had just given him the order. "Excuse me, are you Bella? The Queen of Beauty?"

"Yes I am," said Bella, batting her eyelashes.

"Can I get your autograph? I've been a fan since your very first show."

"Sure, thing. Anything for my adoring fans." Oliver ripped out a sheet from his notepad and handed the pen and paper to Bella, who signed it quickly and efficiently, obviously used to doing it.

"Thank you so much, I _really_ appreciate it," replied Oliver, smiling. He took the rest of everyone's orders at the table and returned back to the kitchen. A few minutes later, Oliver made his way to Mario's table to take all of their orders. Mario marveled at how he managed to take orders from every table, _and_ cook them as well. It really seemed like he was an expert at what he did. Oliver returned once again to the kitchen, presumably to start making their orders and to finish another table's, and came into the dining area once again with Bella's Shroom Roast. He placed it on the table, bowing in front of her as he did so. After giving everyone at their table their meals, he returned back to the kitchen, and the door swung open as he entered it. Mario caught a glimpse of the inside. He saw Antony, the Koopa scientist for a brief moment before the door closed completely. _Why is he in the kitchen, _thought Mario. Simultaneously, Christopher walked by their table and over to Mario's.

"Mario, I've made some interesting discoveries. Could we talk for a minute in private?" asked Christopher.

"Sure thing," said Mario, and they walked out the back door of the buffet hall and out into the cool, brisk air out on the deck.

"I've compiled a list of subjects, tell me what you think," said Christopher, pulling out a notebook with scribbles written in it. "Subject one, Antony. Koopa Scientist. Suspicious behavior regarding mystery chemical experiment, refused to supply details on said experiment." He adjusted his glasses and turned to the next page. "Subject two, Bella. Movie Star. General hostility towards kitchen staff, possible reason for stealing potato sack from the kitchen. Also has demonstrated hostility towards Antony before, possible reason for the boot-throwing into his room early this morning. Subject Three, Violet. Dayzee—"

"What?" said Mario. "Violet? What has she ever done?"

"That is precisely why she is a subject. In my experience, the perpetrator is often the one you never expect."

"She's not the perpetrator," said Mario sternly.

"I'm not saying she is, but I cannot rule out the possibility. Sometimes a great detective has a hunch that he simply cannot ignore."

"Well, I don't think that—" Mario decided to put it behind them. She wasn't the perpetrator, so nothing would come of it. "Okay," said Mario. "Well, Jennifer and Violet mentioned to me earlier that a lifeboat has gone missing earlier this afternoon."

"Intriguing..." replied Christopher. "...ah HA! Mario, tell me, where exactly was this lifeboat missing from?" Mario thought for a moment, thinking back to their conversation.

"...right by Antony's room," replied Mario.

"Just as I suspected!" exclaimed Christopher. "Well, that certainly debunks the whole boomerang boot theory I had. Everything is starting to come together, Mario. I feel we're getting precariously close to solving this mystery, but we still need to figure out one more thing."

"What's that?"

A shriek came from within the restaurant. "My necklace! Where is my necklace?"

"What our perpetrator is after."

**Author's** **Note**: Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying the story so far, please leave a review with your thoughts. I really appreciate it!

(Also, sorry for no Amori/Peach interlude...again. I actually really wanted to write one, but I don't feel like it was the right time to do one. Expect a _big_ one at the end of the chapter :)


	10. CH2 Part 3 :: Perilous Plot Twists

Chapter Two Part Three :: Perilous Plot Twists

COMFORT CRUISE, NIGHT TWO

Mario and Christopher ran inside immediately. Bella was at her table, searching frantically for her diamond necklace. Everyone around her seemed to be completely confused and baffled. Nobody had even seen someone take her necklace.

"What happened?" said Mario upon reaching their table.

"I don't know," said Jennifer. "One moment everything was fine, and the next, Bella was freaking out over her _precious necklace_." A handful of Toad security guards came into the restaurant.

"Alright, nobody leaves the room until we figure out what happened here," said one of the larger guards. "We're on lockdown."

"Lockdown?" said Violet, nervously.

"Dear heavens," said Toadsworth. "This is not good. Not good at all."

"Come, Mario and Luigi," said Christopher. "Let's make our way to the kitchen. I've got a feeling our perpetrator isn't going to stick around the scene of the crime."

"I'm coming too," said Jennifer, leaving Toadsworth and Violet at the table. They entered the kitchen through the swinging door, and what they saw was not what they were expecting. A trail of blue footprints began where they stood. The trail led them to a stairwell, and they went down it. It went quite the ways downwards, the air getting warmer and warmer as they descended. The trail of blue footprints faded away as the heat increased.

"It's getting _really_ hot in here," said Jennifer. "...I don't think this is normal." Upon reaching the bottom, they came into a large, hot room with a boiler in the center. It was very dark in the room, apart from the light coming from the boiler. There was an exhaust pipe for the steam to escape coming out from the top, but no steam was escaping.

"I'm beginning to suspect that we may be in danger," said Christopher, pointing towards the exhaust pipe. It was gradually expanding as a bulge in the center.

"It's gonna explode!" yelled Jennifer. They ran back towards the stairwell door and started their way up the stairs. The bulge was huge now. Suddenly, a great crash boomed throughout the boiler room, echoing intensely up the stairwell and knocking them off their feet. Christopher kept on running up the stairs, but Mario, Luigi and Jennifer stopped and went back down to see what had happened. They made their way back into the boiler room. A giant, gaping hole was in the wall where the boiler once was. Now it was a hot, metal heap of bent metal with steam emanating from it. An obliterated potato was splattered about the ceiling above the exhaust pipe.

"This explains why the perpetrator stole those potatoes," said Christopher. "They needed something to clog the exhaust pipe to make their escape. That still doesn't explain the blue goop, though." The hole in the wall led to another room with a lifeboat in a small pool filled with water. At the other end was an opening straight to the ocean.

"This looks like where they release the boats from," said Jennifer. "Hey...I think that's the lifeboat me and Violet saw was missing earlier!" Suddenly, the lifeboat began floating towards the opening to the ocean at the opposite end of the room. Small waves lapped against the side, seemingly by themselves.

"How is that boat moving?" said Luigi. A faint, barely visible outline of a figure could be seen in the boat. It had a blueish tinge to it.

"I think I know," said Mario, rummaging through his pockets. He pulled out the Lightning Flower they had been given from Goomley several days ago. "I think it's time for some field testing."

Mario used the Lightning Flower and felt a strange, tickling sensation throughout his entire body. Tiny pricks of static popped up around the surface of his skin, forming arcs to the ground from every direction. The light from the arcs lit up the room with their flashes, causing a luminous display from the reflections in the water. The outline of the figure in the lifeboat could be seen more clearly now. Mario thrust his hand outward to send a lightning charge towards the water surrounding the lifeboat. A thunderous crash boomed throughout the room and spread out in every direction in the water surrounding the boat, splintering the wood and sending the figure into the water. Blue liquid suddenly became visible as it came into contact with the cold, salty water.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Christopher. "Antony is the perpetrator!" They seized him from the water and brought him up back onto the cold, metal floor. He was splotched with the same blue goop as before. "I knew it was you from the moment I saw you. The story you gave us about the boot flying into your room was too far-fetched to be true. You staged the _accident_ to ease suspicion and run my investigation off course, but it backfired. You can't fool The Great Toad Detective. This case," he paused for dramatic effect, "is closed." Christopher pulled a pair of handcuffs from his detective bag to everyone's surprise and cuffed Antony's wrists.

"But how did he steal Bella's necklace without anyone noticing?" asked Mario.

"I didn't steal it!" said Antony. Everyone ignored him.

"I'm sure there's a very complicated answer, but I'll have to go over my notes, and—"

"I think I know the answer to that question," said Jennifer. "The blue goop on his body allows him to be invisible, but only at much higher temperatures. As soon as his body cools down, the goop becomes blue again. It's why we could suddenly see him when he plunged into the water."

"I was...just about to say that," said Christopher, embarrassed. "Now then. Hand over the necklace, you've been caught."

"I don't have the necklace!" he said again. "I told you I didn't steal it, there's someone else—"

"Don't ruin the surprise..." said a mysterious voice. A cloud of darkness came into existence over the water. The cloud swirled around and gradually formed into a cape, surrounding a slender, dark figure. His eyes were the only hint of brightness that could be seen.

"Who are you?" said Jennifer, angrily. The figure ignored her and adjusted his gaze towards Mario.

"Ah, you must be the Mario I've been told of," said the figure. "Please, allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Invidus, soon-to-be ruler of your world and mine."

"What have you done with the necklace?" said Christopher.

"Necklace? I don't have any idea what you're talking about. Shut up, I'm trying to talk with Mario, here." He raised his arm, the cloak rising upwards and a force field appeared around Christopher, silencing him.

"This isn't the person I was talking about..." said Antony, nervously.

"Enough!" boomed Invidus. "This petty talk ends here. After hearing so much about how this _Mario_ person from that pretentious _princess_ and how he was going to vanquish me and finally seeing him, I think I'll almost feel bad for ending his life..." he said sarcastically.

"The princess!" gasped Jennifer.

"What have you done with Princess Peach?" demanded Mario.

"That is for me to know, and you to ponder worthlessly as I finish you." He rose up both arms, causing his cape to swirl around him and form back into a dark, grey cloud. Sparks of lightning shot out in all directions, hitting the surface of the water and sending it splashing up at them. A lightning bolt shot out towards the group. They jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding it. Mario and Luigi went into battle stances to face Invidus, who was still hovering over the water. Luigi jumped towards him, but Invidus dodged his attack effortlessly, gliding over a few feet sending Luigi splashing into the water.

"Hah!" said Invidus. "You can't even touch me, this is going to be even easier than I thought." He repeated the same attack as before, this time directed only at Mario. He rolled out of the way, only to recover to a whole barrage of lightning bolts sent straight towards him. _This isn't working_, he thought. _I can't get to him fast enough...wait, that's it! _Mario pulled out the pocketwatch as quickly as possible, looking into it just as he did before. The hands ticked by, slower and slower, until they stopped ticking. He remembered what Sophos said, about not staying in Constus Temporas, or frozen time, for too long. _I have to do this quickly_, he thought. Invidus was motionless, frozen in the air with an evil look in his eyes directed at where Mario was before he used the pocketwatch. The hands were at 5:00 – nearly half of the power was gone. At 12:00 he would be stuck forever in Constus Temporus. He jumped up towards Invidus and latched onto his cape of darkness. He almost didn't make it. The cape barely moved as he grabbed it, rippling in slow motion. Invidus began to descend downwards, towards the water with Mario hanging onto his cape. The clock read 8:00. The water was still a couple of feet away. The clock was at 10:00. A few more inches. The clock was at 11:45. They were in the water, and Mario stopped Constus Temporas.

"Luigi!" yelled Mario at the top of his lungs, "Use the lightning flower NOW!" Luigi seemed awestruck. Suddenly, Mario was in the water with Invidus. He instinctively pulled out his lightning flower and used it on the water near Mario and Invidus. Mario was already looking back at the pocket watch and re-entered Constus Temporas. The clock read only 11:40 – he needed to get out of the water before it reached 12:00. Mario put his hands on top of Invidus, and pushed with all of his might, jumping out of the water for a brief second. He glanced at the pocketwatch again, exiting Constus Temporus. The lightning from Luigi's hand shot forth towards Invidus. His eyes widened, and he was struck by the bolt of lightning in the chest. He let out a thunderous cry of pain, Mario splashing into the water moments after. Invidus rose out of the water. _It didn't work_, thought Mario.

"Don't...think..._cough_...that I won't be back to finish you," said Invidus. His cape swirled around once again, morphing into a dark, ominous cloud and swirling away into nothingness. They had won the battle.

"Mario!" exclaimed Jennifer. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he responded as he got out of the water. "Good job bro," he said to Luigi.

"No problem-o!" he said with a smile. Christopher was huddled against the back side of the room, with Antony.

"W-w-what was _that?_" asked Christopher.

"I think he was a being from...the other world," said Jennifer.

"Could he be the one who...destroyed the gate?" said Luigi.

"We can't be sure, but I'm sure we'll be seeing him again."

"Well, _whoever that was_, I would like to know where the missing diamond necklace is if Antony doesn't have it!"

"I was trying to tell you – the person who stole the diamond necklace is the chef, Oliver McCormick!" Everyone gasped.

"Well, where is he then? And why were you coated in the invisible goop, about to escape on a lifeboat? It sounds to me like you're the perpetrator," said Christopher, crossing his arms.

"I know, but..." he paused, "...I had to. He told me to pose as him in the lifeboat and distract anybody who went after him, or he'd toss me overboard the first chance he got."

"Then where is he now?"

"I don't know."

The group made their way back up the stairs and onto the main deck to come across several security guards around a mess of blue goop on the deck. They pushed their way through the surrounding crowd into the middle to see none other than Oliver McCormick cuffed around the wrists, covered in the blue goop. One of the guards had the diamond necklace. Oliver was muttering to himself.

"Stupid flower, I would have gotten away if she hadn't of-"

"Give it a rest, bub," said one of the guards. "Crime doesn't pay."

"That's right, that'll teach you to mess with the Queen of Beauty," said Bella, who had her necklace returned to her by the guard. Toadsworth and Violet joined the group. Violet had splotches of the blue goop all over her.

"What happened to you?" said Jennifer.

"Well, me and Toadsworth were in the restaurant when you left. I had to use the restroom, so a guard let me go. When I went in, I saw the window open by itself and blue footprints appear on the wall below it. At that point, instinct took over, and I sung a lullaby. The thief fell to the floor with a thud and I told the guards."

"Wow, way to go, Violet!" said Jennifer. "You're the hero!" Mario and Luigi eyed each other at the irony of the statement. Meanwhile, the guards were talking to each other and going over Oliver's background.

"So you're telling me his papers aren't official?" said one of the guards.

"Indeed, sir. He's not even a chef. His last real job was a dishwasher in a junky cafe. Quite the elaborate scheme, I'd say."

"I knew it!" exclaimed Bella. Everyone seemed surprised. "Ever since the argument on the blimp about the Spicy Mushroom!" Nobody paid much attention to her.

"And I would have gotten away with it," said Oliver, "if it weren't for that meddlesome flower..." The guards dragged Oliver off, the crowd of bystanders following them trying to snap pictures and get a view of the criminal.

"Well, I suppose that's that," said Christopher. "Another mystery has been solved by The Great Toad Detective! You've got great potential, Mario. Maybe one day you'll be as good at solving problems as me, but until that day, I wish you good luck." Mario simply nodded.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is longer than I expected it to be! Looks like it'll end up being a four-parter (I still need to decide on who will be the next partner - there are lots of choices I'm still thinking about). I think I'm getting better at embellishing details and taking things at a slower pace.


	11. CH2 Part 4 :: Spelunking

Chapter Two Part Four :: Spelunking

The next morning, things were back to normal with the criminal put to justice, and the island of Insula in sight on the horizon. The ship would arrive early in the afternoon, and everybody enjoyed the remaining hours on the ship, although they were getting quite bored of it. Everyone was excited to finally get onto dry land and find the next golden cog. Being exhausted from the previous day's detective work, Mario had slept in until nearly noon and was awoken by the ships loud, obnoxious horn. They had arrived. He met up with everyone else up on the top deck, where the bridge would extend down to the dock on the island. The island was absolutely gorgeous, with lush green canopies extending out in every direction and up the large mountain in the middle of the island. The ship slowly slid into place next to the dock and the bridge was extended down to it. Everyone hastily made their way off the ship and onto the dock and onto the shore. Waves lapped gently against the sandy beach.

"So now what?" said Jennifer. "This is a pretty big island. Where do we start looking for the golden cog?"

"Hmm," said Mario as he surveyed the landscape in front of him. Looming way above their heads was the volcano in the middle of the island. The ground inclined slowly for a little ways, but then the elevation increased much more very suddenly. It looked like the volcano was going to fall on top of them. Every square foot of the island was covered with dense foliage, the heat of the air simmering like a sauna over the treetops. "I suppose the volcano would be a likely candidate to find the golden cog..."

"I was afraid you'd say that," said Toadsworth. "I'm afraid that's where I draw the line. I'll stay um...here, while you adventurous young heroes and heroines go...there," he paused. "But I'll keep an eye out for the cog down here!"

"Okay Toadsworth," said Mario. "We'll meet you back here tonight. If we don't come back, send help."

"Will do," he replied. They started making their way up towards the volcano, following a dirt pathway that meandered through the trees. It was only a few minutes later when someone rushed up behind them, wheezing and out of breath.

"Mario...whew...wait..." said Antony.

"Antony, what's the matter?" said Mario.

"I overheard you talking earlier...and I want to help." He spent a few moments catching the rest of his breath. "After seeing what happened back on the ship with that mysterious black figure, I just had to see what was up."

"That was Invidus, the _apparent supreme ruler of being a jerk_," Jennifer said bitterly.

"You're welcome to join us, Antony," said Mario. "We could use all the help we could get, but are you sure you're up to it?"

"Oh believe me, I'm up to it." He pulled open his lab coat with both his arms to show an elaborate display of vials and scientific instruments. "I've got enough stuff here for any situation. Poison, fire, ice, anything really. I've got something to deal with it, or dish it out."

"We'll take you," said Violet.

Later, after several hours of making slow progress fumbling underneath the jungle canopy, they had reached the base of the volcano. The trees became sparse and the air became thinner. The terrain became rocky and jagged. Several times, little landslides of dirt and pebbles tumbled down past them.

"Are we," Jennifer huffed, "almost there yet? Wherever it is we're going?"

"I think I see a cave up there," replied Luigi. They entered the cave. Its mouth came out from the steep slope of the volcano and nearly immediately descended downwards into the depths of the volcano. It was dry and airy inside, but as they dropped deeper, the air became hot and dense. The walls and ceiling were moist with water. The cave itself constricted their movement, at some points only a couple feet wide. They walked through single file – Mario, Luigi, Jennifer, Violet and Antony. Upon reaching a deep chasm, Mario stopped abruptly. He peered over the edge.

"Looks really deep," said Mario. "But I do see a pool of water down below."

"Are y-you saying we should _jump?"_ said Luigi.

"There's got to be a better way," said Jennifer.

"I can't see if the water is deep enough," said Mario.

"I can help with that," said Antony. He pulled a vial out from his lab coat. "Here, take this vial. When the liquid inside comes in contact with air, it emits light for a few seconds. It should be enough to get a good glimpse of what's really down there." Mario took the vial from Antony and looked at it. Inside was a bright, yellow liquid with bubbles fizzing up towards the top. He tossed it down the chasm, aiming for a rocky area near the pool of water. The chasm lit up with a sudden splash of light. He could see everything – the rocks, the water and how deep it was. After a few seconds, the light dimmed and fizzled out.

"I'm glad you came," said Jennifer to Antony.

"I do what I can," he replied, smiling.

"Well, it looks deep enough to me," said Mario. "Let's-a-go!" He jumped down through the chasm and landed in the water with a big splash, surfacing moments later. "Okay, who's next?" Luigi jumped down after a little hesitation, followed by Jennifer, Violet and Antony. Upon getting out, drenched in water, an archway that couldn't be seen from above filled their views.

"Whoa," said Jennifer. "This is amazing! This place must be hundreds of years old!" She rushed over to the archway carved in the rock, examining it. "It's too dark to see much of anything, though."

"That shouldn't be a problem anymore," said Luigi as he pulled a torch down from the wall. "We just need something to light this with."

"Here you go," said Antony. He gave him a vial filled with fiery red powder. "That's your classic fireball mixture. Just rub some on your hands and flick real fast towards whatever you want to light up." Luigi opened the vial and rubbed some on his hands. He flicked his fingers out and little fiery sparks shot from his fingers onto the torch and lighting it. The hallway lit up with an orange glow.

"Neat!"

They made their way down the dim hallway, under the stone archways, relighting the torch when it ran out.

"So, Antony..." said Jennifer. "What kind of scientist did you say you were, again?"

"It's semi-confidential."

"_Semi -_condidential?"

"Well under certain scenarios, I'm allowed to reveal the information pertaining to my research, such as a life-or-death situation in which the information could be beneficial."

"That's an oddly specific situation."

"Let's hope so."

They arrived abruptly at the wall of a cave. The archways lining the path no longer continued.

"This doesn't look good," said Luigi.

"Is this it? Surely this can't be it," said Jennifer. She examined the walls, scanning for anything of interest.

"I guess we'll have to turn back..." said Violet.

"No, wait," said Antony. He put his hand against the wall above Jennifer. "I can feel something."

"What's it feel like?" said Jennifer.

"It feels like rushing water. It can't be more than a few inches thick."

"You don't happen to have a vial of explosive chemicals do you?" said Jennifer.

"I do happen," replied Antony, smiling as he took it out. "Except it's meant to be thrown a distance."

"I can aim a fireball at it," said Mario. Antony placed the vial at the edge of the wall and everybody went back a few paces from it.

"Here I go," said Mario. He put the fiery powder into his hands and let the flame shoot from his fingertips towards the vial. Upon hitting it, the vial exploded in a surprisingly forceful manner, shaking dirt and rocks off of the ceiling and destroying the wall in front of them. The sound of rushing water was much louder now, and as the dust settled they could see a plume of dark water rushing by just below the floor level.

"So now what," said Violet. "Are we supposed to get _in that?"_

"Looks like it," said Mario, examining the plume of rushing water.

"I don't care how much you pay me, I'm not getting in there," said Luigi.

"We can't just turn back now, we've come so far!" said Jennifer.

"Sure we can, we just turn around and start walking—"

A large horde of short, pudgy figures wearing dark brown cloaks with white masks crowded behind them holding an assortment of spears and torches.

"Oh no...not shy guys..."


	12. CH2 Part 5 :: Rrreow

**Author's Note:** The conclusion to Chapter 2! If you've read this far, please leave a review. The reviews are what really get me motivated to keep writing. And according to the Traffic Graph for this story, people are actually reading my story and it's getting consistent (but small) hits! I was surprised by how many I got from the last update.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Two Part Five :: Rrreow<span>

A chorus of nasally murmurs came from the horde of shy guys from behind as they rushed towards them, lifting everyone above their heads.

"Rreow, rreow!" cried a shy guy in the front.

"Rrreeeooww!"

"R-r-r-eeow!"

"Rngargnargneow!"

"Rngggggggggggg..."

"What in the world is happening?" yelled Violet as she bounced atop the horde of shy guys running through the narrow corridor.

"I—Have—No—Idea!" replied Jennifer. The horde of shy guys carried them away into a room they hadn't seen before. Amidst all of the confusion, they hadn't seen where the horde was taking them. Entering into a large, dome shaped room, the horde dispersed around a rift tearing through the center of the floor. Several hundred feet down, an orange glow emanated upwards. They could feel a swell of hot air suddenly as they were placed over it.

"T-t-this doesn't look good..." said Luigi.

"Rreow!" said the shy guy holding Luigi, sharply. Muttering between some of the shy guys commenced.

"You don't think they're going to...throw us down there, do you guys?" whispered Antony.

"REOW!"

The muttering ceased for a few moments. A larger shy guy appeared from an opening in the wall. It wore several bone necklaces of different variety as well as a dark red cloak and tan mask. A golden amulet was also around his neck, and its shiny appearance looked out of place in comparison to the earthy tones in the rest of his appearance. He raised his hand up and the remainder of the murmuring stopped. He paused.

"...reow."

"RREOW RREOW!" yelled every last shy guy in unison. They chanted, jumping up and down, increasing in speed until suddenly, the chanting stopped. The shy guy chieftain held out his arm, pointing towards the entrance to the room. In the doorway stood nobody had expected to see.

"What in blazes is going on here?" The horde of shy guys stood in silence. "No response, eh? Well I suppose introductions are in order, then. I'll start. My name is Kolorado – world renowned scholar and explorer – what in blazes is going on, here?"

Nothing but more silence came from the shy guys. They were all watching the chieftain, who was watching Kolorado.

"...Mario? Is that you?" he said.

"Hi," said Mario, waving from atop the horde.

"It is you, my old chap! What are you doing here, looking for treasure as well, or saving the world? Wait, don't answer that, now's not the time for chit-chat—"

"RNGGGGGEOW!" yelled the shy guy chieftain. The horde of shy guys not carrying Mario and company rushed over to Kolorado.

"Looks like it's time for a little combat," said Kolorado. "Tally-ho!" He withdrew into his shell and shot out towards the incoming horde of shy guys, knocking them down and out of the way like dominoes, crashing into the shy guys holding everyone else. They tumbled out of their grips and onto the ground near the rift. They stumbled to their feet, surrounded by more shy guys.

"It seems we've gotten ourselves into a bit of a sticky wicket, eh? I've done about all I can do..."

Mario pulled out the pocket watch. He hesitated for a moment before allowing it to bring him into Constus Temporus. The risks were just too high. If he remained for too long, there would be no coming back. He looked into the face of the clock and watched the hands tick slower and slower until they stopped completely once again. Mario surveyed the situation quickly, knowing every moment that went by was another moment closer to the point of no return. The chieftain stood motionless up at the far end of the room on his raised platform. The glimmer of the amulet around his neck caught Mario's eye. There was something odd about it – it just didn't seem right. _Where would he have gotten a golden amulet_, thought Mario. He quickly made his way through the frozen crowd of shy guys over to the chieftain's perch. The clock read 9:45. _Just a little more time_, he thought. Mario took the amulet from around the chieftain's neck and made his way back towards the rift in the center of the room. By the time he was there, the clock read 11:45. He took one last glance at the amulet. It no longer glimmered like gold, but had turned to a dark grey color, like a lump of coal. He tossed it into the rift and into the lava below, then went out of Constus Temporus. The shy guys surrounding them crept in closer, not even noticing Mario's disappearance and reappearance. The chieftain, however, seemed different. He raised his hands into the air once again and let out a massive yell.

"RRRREEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!" It boomed in the cave and the shy guys stopped immediately, utterly confused. The chieftain spoke to everyone, but of course nobody buy the shy guys understood it. After several moments, the chieftain came down from his perch and towards Mario, the crowd of shy guys parting to make a path for him. He looked him dead in the eyes.

"...you..." said the chieftain, "...are...good."

"And you're just now noticing this?" said Jennifer. The chieftain still looked straight into Mario's eyes.

"I think the amulet around his neck was controlling him in some way," said Mario. "I used the pocket watch to take it from his neck and throw it into the lava."

"You threw it into the _fire?_" exclaimed Kolorado. "That was probably an ancient...necklace or...something!"

The chieftain spoke up once again, slowly. "...black spirit...gave shiny necklace..."

"_Invidus!_" exclaimed Violet. Everyone turned their heads towards her. "...why does everyone always act so surprised when I speak?"

"If Invidus was controlling the chieftain with that amulet, then we must be close to the next golden cog," said Jennifer.

"...gold...this way..." responded the chieftain. He led them through the crowd of shy guys towards the opening he originally emerged from. It led into another room decorated with ornate tapestries and other precious items. At the far end of the room was what they were looking for.

"The golden cog..." said Luigi. The chieftain pulled down the golden cog from the wall. He walked by Kolorado, who let out his hands to receive the cog, but the chieftain continued onwards and placed the cog into Mario's hands.

"...you...keep..."

"Thank you," said Mario. Kolorado couldn't contain his jealousy, or at least it didn't look like it.

"So...you said your name is _Kolorado_, right?" asked Antony.

"Yes I did, and what is yours, may I ask?"

"Antony."

"Glad to meet your acquaintance, Antony. It's always nice to meet a fellow Koopa. After my last adventure with Mario, I spent some time with my wife, and after those couple of days or so, I set out on my next adventure! Mario and I go way back, you know. He's a friend to all Koopas – heck, you're the third one I've seen him on an adventure with."

"Anyways..." said Jennifer. "...since we've got the golden cog now, I think we should get out of this volcano as soon as possible. I have this creeping feeling it's about to blow any minute..."

"Oh, you needn't worry about that," replied Kolorado. "In my research of this island, I discovered that the volcano has been dormant for thousands of years. There's absolutely no chance that will happen—"

As if on cue, the ground around them began to shake and rumble. The chieftain ran out of his room and into the main cave from before.

"Of course, I have been known to be wrong in the past...repeatedly..."

They followed the chieftain out into the main room only to see the rift in the center widening. The shy guys were running out of the room.

"Looks like it's time to go," said Antony. They ran out of the cave and back to where they came from and entered into another narrow corridor with carved archways. It branched off in multiple directions, but a ways ahead of them they could see the horde of shy guys running away and went down the same path. It led them to another room with three vertical cylindrical openings embedded in the wall. The shy guys were all standing in the two openings on the side. The one in the center remained unoccupied. The chieftain was standing next to it, gesturing for them to go there. They rushed onto the circular platform. It shifted slightly as they walked onto it.

"What are these things?" said Luigi.

"I think I know..." said Jennifer. Suddenly a wave of viscous lava appeared at the far end of the corridor they had just been within. The shy guys on the other platforms looked very nervous.

"...where is Kolorado?" said Mario. Kolorado came out of a room down the corridor, with the lava right behind him.

"I've discovered a treasure!" he exclaimed as he entered into the room. It was a golden statue of some sort of a shy guy. "Oh, the history that this thing could hold!" As soon as he finished talking, he tripped over a rock, sending the statue tumbling to the ground. The lava crept slowly towards the platforms and right behind Kolorado. The statue became engulfed by the lava, melting away. "Not again..." The platforms they stood on had started to rise upwards. Slowly, at first, but then rapidly picking up speed. The walls encased them now, sliding past with great speed. Up above there was a faint blue light that was getting larger and larger. It was the sky.

"I think I know what these are now!"

They were thrust into the bright blue sky and for a moment they seemed to float in the air. There were shy guys raining down on their left and right, with thick, lush canopy spread out beneath them and the platform under their feet. It fell down to the earth, sending them tumbling outwards onto the treetops.

"Holy Shroomcakes, that was crazy!" exclaimed Antony.

"Crazy isn't the word I'd use to describe it..." said Violet. "More like _terrifying_."

"But...the treasure..." said Kolorado.

After orienting themselves, they made their way back towards the shore where Toadsworth would be waiting for them.

"I'm glad I sat that one out," said Toadsworth. They were chatting in a drink bar along the beach. The contrast between there and where they were was disorienting.

"Now that we've got the next golden cog, we can head back towards the mainland," said Jennifer. There was a chorus of groans.

"But can't we stay here a bit longer and enjoy ourselves? We _did_ just get here," said Violet.

"...well...I guess we can stay a bit longer," said Jennifer. She looked at Mario, as if for permission. She had a tendency to take the leadership position. He was so quiet all of the time, it made it easy for her. Mario simply smiled and nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Chapter 2 is finally concluded! Thanks so much for reading this far. I hope you've been enjoying it, and if you have, _please_ leave a review.

Also, as an exciting side note, expect the next interlude to focus mainly (if not entirely) on the Amori/Peach/Invidus/Vallus backstory! I think I've got my work cut out for me in explaining the finer details of the plot, but it should be fun :)


	13. Interlude 2 Part 1 :: The Aeturnum Clock

Interlude Two Part One :: The Aeturnum Clock

Peach found herself sitting on her cold, grey bed after refusing for too long to give in to Invidus' demands. He grew angry and had her thrown back away in her cell of sorts, this time with the door locked. He muttered something about making things difficult and shut the door. _What had he said about the Aeturnum Clock beginning anew_, thought Peach._ And what does he want with me? Something about my heart?_ Thoughts raced through her mind about what Invidus could possibly want with her, and how it tied into her own fate. She wondered why he even bothered to treat her with any sort of decency, at least what little he had. She forced herself to stop thinking and rest her chin upon her hand, looking upwards to the window above her. Solid metal bars prevented her from escaping. It was nighttime outside and she could hear crickets chirping. She propped herself up against the window to get a better view by standing on top of the bed. The sky was crisp and dark, with the stars twinkling brightly. She was way up above the ground in the tower that was the building she was being kept prisoner. Surrounding the building were many other buildings. For some reason, everything looked vaguely familiar. Peach noticed that there was no moon in the sky, the stars themselves shone so brightly she thought for a moment she must had been wrong. _Where am I_, she thought as the door to her cell opened up.

"Come," ordered Invidus.

"I won't do anything you say." Peach turned to face away from the doorway indignantly. "...and don't you have the courtesy to knock? Just because I'm your prisoner doesn't mean I'm not still a princess."

"Oh, that's right," replied Invidus. "Mario mentioned something about a princess. What is he, your plumber?" He cackled.

"No," said Peach, "but he's going to defeat you and stop whatever plans you have, that's for sure...when did you see Mario?" Peach suddenly became very worried.

"I had to check up on your so-called hero, and I'll be honest with you, Peach. I thought he'd be a typical hero who thinks they're good but don't have what it takes, but he caught me a little off guard. But don't let that give you any hope _princess_," he emphasized the word sarcastically, "after what I'm about to do, he won't stand a chance."

"That's what they all say. It works for a bit, but good will always find a way to triumph over evil." Invidus cackled again.

"Do you think there is such a good thing as _good_ and _evil_ in this world? I've already told you before, _this world is perfect_. Everything is in perfect balance, so there can't be things such as _good _and _evil_."

"Well, _I beg to differ_."

"Alright, princess. Enough is enough. You've got spunk, that's for sure, but I grow tired of all things eventually. Now, hush." He raised his arm to cast a spell upon her. She tried to speak, but couldn't let out even a mumble.

"If you want to stay the pretty little princess you are, you'll come down to the Aeturnum Clock with me without making a fuss." Peach looked downwards, and followed Invidus out of the door to her cell and down the stairs to the ground level where each of the four seasons were represented in the four quadrants of the circular room.

"Sit here," said Invidus, gesturing towards the black throne in the center. Peach sat down slowly and reluctantly. The shadows cast down from the hands of the clock towering above them. Both hands were pointing away from the center in the same direction, out away from Peach and towards the outer edge of the circle, where Invidus stood. The hands of the Aeturnum Clock were in perfect alignment with each other.

"This is the moment," said Invidus. "Alas, after waiting for so long, the time is here."

The shadows cast by both hands of the Aeturnum Clock suddenly began moving like ghosts, radiating out from the center of the room where Peach sat on the black throne. She tried to get up, but something was keeping her sturdily in place.

"Yes! Yes, It's working!" he exclaimed, raising his arms high into the air, absorbing the rays of shadow emanating from Peach and the throne. Peach felt the starlight from above raining down, passing through her body and into the throne of darkness, manifesting into rays of shadow that surged forward. Peach felt dizzy, her vision fading into blackness. In her last few moments of consciousness, she saw Invidus. His pale, sorrow-ridden eyes gleamed, with rays of azure lightning arcing out from his arms while he laughed uncontrollably and eerily.

"Halt!" A voice echoed from the main entrance. A figure wearing a maroon robe stood in the doorway, holding out his arm towards Invidus. A ray of light shot out from the palm of his hand and struck Invidus. He fell to the side and clutched his side where the ray had hit him.

"I thought I _got rid of you!"_ said Invidus, sharply.

"Like all things, my absence was merely temporary," the figure replied. "I've come to rescue my dearest Amori. Nothing will stand in my path."

"I'd love to prove you wrong with a long drawn-out battle, but I was in the middle of something rather important when you barged in and interrupted me. We'll have to make this quick."

Invidus raised his arm towards Vallus, shooting out a ray of darkness. Vallus rolled out the way, only to face a barrage of them. Invidus shot more and more rays, Vallus working hard to dodge each and every one of them.

"Ha ha," laughed Invidus, "it looks like the conversion is complete! I've never felt so powerful!" Vallus was out of breath, panting with his arms at his knees. "I could kill you, you know. But instead, I think I'll turn you into something, so you can live out the remainder of eternity, wishing _ever so much_ to find your precious Amori." He cackled once more. "Do you even know where she is?"

"...I..._huff_...know that she traveled through the Gate between worlds..."

"Oh, good for you, you figured it out. Well, I'll let you have that one." Invidus summoned a sphere of darkness between his hands. It grew outwards until he let it loose, sending tendrils of shadow along the floor towards Vallus. They reached up through his feet and engulfed his entire body in darkness as he fell towards the floor. His body became entirely dark, morphing into a small metallic object that clattered to the floor. It was a compass.

"Now that he's been taken care of, I can finish taking care of you princess."

Invidus raised his arms once more, forcing the last bit of shadow out of Peach and the throne. She passed out and the giant hands of the Aeturnum Clock ticked by as they had for thousands and thousands of years.

**Author's Note****_ : _**Plot!


	14. Interlude 2 Part 2 :: Redonis Pastoris

**Author's Note : **The remainder of the second chapter interlude, this time focusing on the thoughts behind the characters, and developing the ever-so-mystifying plot, as well as introducing/teasing a couple fancy new plot points...

Interlude Two Part Two :: Redonis Pastoris

The cruise ride home was uneventful, and everyone was too tired to enjoy the rest of the mini-vacation. Mario thought deeply about the situation they were in. He wondered what Peach was thinking, where Invidus was keeping her, why he had taken her. He stopped himself from thinking about it too much. Right now, the best option was to keep pressing forward and be the hero he had always been. Everybody was counting on him.

Toadsworth thought similarly, but mostly just worried about the state of the princess. They still had no idea what Invidus' motives were, but it didn't seem good. Toadsworth also knew he was only slowing them down – it was the partly the reason why he volunteered himself to stay on the coast back on Insula. As much as he wanted to save the princess, he knew that the task was best suited for Mario and his new friends.

Luigi worried for his brother. He was used to being in Mario's shadow, sometimes not even there at all, but he always cared deeply for him. If he was ever in any danger, Luigi would be there to help him at all costs.

Violet began to miss Maurice. It had been awhile since they left Verion and she yearned to return to him. But she wouldn't say anything, of course. She knew the importance of their mission. She always wanted to be a part of something big – something that would take her away from the quiet, quaint village she had lived in for her entire life up to this point. She wondered what her purpose was in all of this.

Antony, being the newest member to the team, was still getting used to things. He was confident in his abilities to be useful, that was for sure. He thought about Jennifer a fair amount on the way to the mainland. She was a lot like him, in some ways. She had a knack for detail and always seemed to take charge when important decisions needed to be made.

Jennifer thought about how her life had changed so drastically in such a short period of time. A couple of plumbers, a toad and a princess show up and all of a sudden, she is off and trying to save the world. It was definitely a lot more exciting than doing research and writing about things. But they didn't know what was really happening yet. She hoped that Sophos would give them some sagely knowledge when they finally returned.

They arrived at Tempora Hall late in the evening. It felt like home to them. They entered and walked down the long, dusty corridor. The building wasn't well-taken care of. It almost seemed like it was in worse shape than before. The large clock at the end of the corridor loomed in front of them. Mario pulled out the pocket watch, and the clock became liquid-like. They walked through it.

"Welcome once again, heroes," greeted Sophos. "I trust you've come back with another cog?"

"We have," replied Jennifer.

"Well, go ahead and place the cog in its rightful place."

Mario walked over to the other, broken gate where the first cog was placed. He put the second cog on the other side of the circular gate and it begun spinning immediately. The pocket watch glowed bright white, and then the ring around it turned into a rainbow of colors, spinning faster and faster until suddenly stopping with a flash of light.

"What's the new power?" asked Jennifer. Sophos examined the pocket watch carefully.

"Ah, this one is quite powerful," he replied. "It's called Redonis Pastoris. Do you know what that means?" Everyone's faces looked puzzled for a moment, until Antony lit up.

"It means 'redoing the past'!" exclaimed Antony.

"Indeed it does," replied Sophos. "Activating this ability in the pocket watch will allow Mario to redo the past. With limits of course. You can only go back thirty minutes, unfortunately. The way to enter Redonis Pastoris is slightly different than Constus Temporus, however. Notice the colorful ring around the edge of the clock face – turning the ring counter clockwise one whole turn will bring you thirty minutes into the past, and once you turn the ring, you cannot turn it again until it returns back to where it was, thirty minutes later."

"So Mario can go back in time thirty minute, every hour?" said Luigi.

"That would be the case," replied Sophos. Mario looked at the pocket watch and thought about how he would use this new ability. There was a lot to ponder about the possibilities of such a power.

"There is one more thing that you should know before you venture out to find the next golden cog. Something showed up here in Constus Temporus. A small, metal compass." Sophos pulled the compass out and handed it to Jennifer. "I do not know how or why this compass has appeared, but it seems to point towards people that it desires. It may be important in finding the remaining golden cogs." Jennifer looked down at the compass, then up at Sophos, confused.

"Why does it want me?" she asked, innocently.

"I do not know. Some things are not known even by old, wise sages."

"The compass isn't pointing towards me anymore," said Jennifer. "It's just moving around randomly."

"That is because this world, Contineous, is not a part of the other worlds. Whatever it is that the compass is looking for isn't here. This is all of the information that I have for you at the current moment. I wish you good luck – you will need it. The road ahead will be more challenging, and you will face obstacles that you haven't come across before."

They left Contineous, feeling a mixture of accomplishment, yet incompleteness. The full story behind their adventure wasn't yet fully revealed. It was late at night in Tempora Town, and they rested at the Inn for the night, endlessly wondering about what lied ahead.


	15. Interlude 2 Part 3 :: Past and Future

Interlude Two Part Three :: Past, Present, Future

The bright orange sun arose from the horizon, casting its rays over Tempora Town. The people walking down the narrow streets of the city were sparse at the early hour in the morning. Jennifer awoke to a glint of sunlight shining through a crack in the window. She rustled lazily out of her bed in the Inn. Everyone else slept silently, except Mario and Luigi. They were snoring up a storm. She left the room and went outside on the balcony to enjoy the cool, quiet morning. She could see the sun, only half obscured by the horizon. It was colder than usual, she thought. But she thought nothing else of it – she was almost never out this early in the morning. She wondered where they would be heading next. Out of the two remaining regions of Tempora, there were only the Fall and Winter regions that remained. It only made sense to travel to the Fall region next. She didn't know much about Autumnus, as it was somewhat of a mystery to everyone. It was a densely thick jungle, except in perpetual autumn. What pictures had been taken of the region were very beautiful, but there were also stories of people getting lost there. The brush was thick and easy to lose your way in. Jennifer didn't like small spaces. She pulled out the compass, almost forgetting Sophos had given it to her the night before. The arrow pointed north, the direction of Autumnus. _I guess that means we're heading there next_, she thought.

Hours later, everyone had awoken and was at Jennifer's office in the University of Tempora. She felt weird being back there.

"I think we should head to Autmnus next," said Jennifer. "The compass Sophos gave me seems to be pointing in that direction."

"Ah-what-nus?" replied Toadsworth.

"Autmnus, the autumn region," said Jennifer. "It's a dense forest, more like a jungle really, in perpetual autumn."

"Are there any...monsters?"

"Some...I think," she replied. "There's a lot that's not known about that place." Toadsworth seemed uneasy. The last place they went to involved a three day cruise and resort on a tropical island. The contrast was sharp.

"Perhaps I should stay here again."

"Are you sure?" said Luigi.

"Yes. You all go ahead without me. I'll do my best to be useful while you're away again." He looked at Mario. "Mario, you keep everyone safe. I know you can." He moved his glance over to Luigi. "And you, Luigi, protect your brother at all costs." Mario and Luigi both nodded.

"We can head out there in a few hours," said Jennifer, "but first I think we should do a bit of shopping."

Violet's eyes lit up. "Shopping? Oh, yes please! Let's do!"

"Not that kind of shopping, Violet," said Jennifer with a smile. "I meant for Mario. Those Lightning Flowers from before proved pretty useful when they fought Invidus. There are plenty of other, more secret projects that are being developed here in UT that might also come in handy."

"Like what?" Mario said, surprised.

"Come with me," said Jennifer. Mario, Luigi, Violet, and Antony followed her into the research laboratory. It was a large, dome-shaped room with glass windows lining the upper half of the dome. Inside were several enclosures with tinted windows obscuring their views inside.

"I think it would be helpful to have Fire Flowers, since we're going to a forest after all, but Antony has that covered, I believe. What we do know about Autumnus is that the trees are really, _really_ tall. We might need something to get around if we're not on the ground." Jennifer flipped a switch, unveiling several suit-like things hanging from the wall.

"What are those?" Asked Antony.

"These are Squirrel Suits. If you wear them, you're able to glide very far when you spread your arms."

"That's amazing!" He exclaimed, and then paused. "But how will you...um...use them?" Jennifer looked embarrassed.

"I've got a special one," she replied.

"Wait...how does that work—"

"They are fun, but they're also really dangerous. You don't want to know what happened in testing. But we have enough for all of us, and they're pretty lightweight as well, so they shouldn't be too obtrusive."

Violet frowned. "They're hideous," she said plainly. The suits were a dark brown color with tan underneath the wings. Three vertical black stripes ran along the back.

"Sorry, but they _are_ pretty accurate."

"What else is in this room?" asked Antony.

"That's confidential," said Jennifer. She smiled again. "I seem to remember you talking about semi-confidentiality back on Insula, something about only being able to reveal information under certain scenarios."

"Ha ha," he laughed sarcastically. "Alright, that's fine. Don't think I'm about to reveal my research topic that easily."

"Okay, but if you ever have a desire to know what other fantastic inventions we have here, you're welcome to disclose that information."

"Ahem," said Violet. "We're wasting daylight, you two. The sooner we get the third golden cog, the sooner I can take off this wretched suit."

"Speaking of leaving," said Antony, "how do we intend to get to Autumnus?"

"That's a good question," replied Jennifer. "They don't fly hot air balloons there because you can't land anywhere near the forest—"

"I thought you said it was a jungle."

"Jungle, forest, whatever. It's...you'll understand when we get there. Anyways, since we can't take a hot air balloon, that rules out any air travel, which means we'll have to—"

Suddenly, the compass started vibrating uncontrollably. Jennifer pulled it out.

"See, this is what I'm talking about," said Antony. "How are you holding that?"

Jennifer ignored him again. "The direction the compass is pointing changed, we should investigate immediately."

The five of them followed the compass. Wherever it was leading them seemed to be within the city. After a few minutes of traversing through the narrow, cobblestone streets, they were standing in front of Tempora Hall once again.

"But we were just here last night," said Jennifer. "Why did the compass change now?"

"Let's find out," said Mario as he pulled out the pocket watch in front of the giant clock phase. The clock turned to liquid, and he walked through followed by everyone else. This time they weren't greeted by Sophos as usual. Instead, they saw him braced up against the gate to the other world.

"Sophos, what is going on?" yelled Jennifer.

"Something...trying...to...open the gate!" His hands were extended outwards towards the face of the gate, using magic in an attempt to prevent it from opening. The clock face of the gate flickered into existence, much like the one in Tempora Hall. Sophos concentrated and it flickered back.

"But the gate shouldn't even work! We've only restored two cogs!"

"There is a dark magic at work here. I cannot hold it for much longer!" The gate flickered once more, this time glowing brighter and brighter.

"What can we do to help?"

"There is...nothing...can prevent..." Sophos collapsed to the floor, and the gate came to life in a burst of light. Emerging from the light itself was a shadowy figure with piercing, blue eyes.

"Ahh, we meet again Mario and company..."

"Invidus!" said Jennifer.

"Correct, pathetic goomba. Now, get out of my way."

Invidus raised his arms, revealing a cloak of shadow beneath them. Sparks of electricity manifested from his hands, and he suddenly threw them downwards into the floor. Thinking quickly, Mario jumped before the charge reached them. The others weren't so lucky. As he landed back safely on the ground, he saw their bodies collapse towards the floor. He was utterly shocked. Time seemed to be going slowly now. _I've failed_, he thought. They were gone, and he was next. _What did we do wrong? How is the gate open?_ Mario wished he could go back to fix whatever it was that happened. But he could. Mario pulled out the pocket watch as quickly as he could and turned the outer rim counterclockwise until it locked into position. He looked up and around him. He saw the five of them and Invidus. He saw himself, moving upwards into the air and then back down again, avoiding the charge of electricity rippling through the floor. It moved back towards Invidus and flowed into his arms. He was seeing time move backwards. He felt like he was in himself, but isolated as well. Time moved back faster. They were outside of Tempora Hall, then they were back at the university. Time started to crawl, and then it was at a standstill. Jennifer was showing them the squirrel suits.

"These are Squirrel Suits. If you wear them, you're able to glide very far when you spread your arms."

"That's amazing!" said Antony, and then paused. "But how will you...um...use them?" Jennifer looked embarrassed. Mario looked utterly confused. He didn't know whether to be in shock or not. Sophos said the new ability would allow him to travel backwards in time. The magnitude of this reality was shocking.

"I've got a special one," Jennifer replied.

"Wait...how does that work—"

"They are fun, but they're also really dangerous. You don't want to know what happened in testing. But we have enough for all of us, and they're pretty lightweight as well, so they shouldn't be too obtrusive."

Mario wondered for a moment if they knew they had traveled backwards in time. They apparently didn't. Violet frowned. "They're hideous," she said plainly.

"Sorry, but they _are_ pretty accurate."

"What else is in this room?" asked Antony. Realizing he was wasting precious time, Mario interrupted the conversation.

"Wait!" he said. Everyone looked surprised.

"What's wrong?" said Jennifer.

"I used the pocket watch to go backwards in time," said Mario.

"Wait...really? I didn't see you—oh...wait what?"

"There's no time to talk, we need to go to Tempora Hall _right now_!"

They rushed out of the university once again. _Or is this the first time, _thought Mario. It didn't matter. They needed to get to Contineous and help Sophos before the gate could open. They opened the gate.

"Welcome back," said Sophos. "What brings you? Have you already found the next missing cog?"

"No," said Mario. "Invidus is going to open the gate any minute now. I used the pocket watch to go back in time right after he broke through."

Sophos seemed surprised, something that isn't easy to do to someone who has lived for thousands of years.

"I can place a spell on the gate," said Sophos, "that will aid in the prevention of Invidus' entry. It takes some time to prepare, so that is probably why I hadn't done it in the alternate future."

Sophos concentrated deeply for almost a minute. Mario worried with every passing moment that Invidus was going to break through the gate. Sophos placed the spell on the gate, surrounding it with light.

"This will prevent darkness from entering here, but not indefinitely. It's uncertain how long it will last, but it should give you enough time to find the remaining cogs...hopefully."

"Why didn't you cast that spell on the gate before?" asked Antony.

"The spell...has other effects. While it prevents darkness from entering here, it creates an unbalance between the worlds. Without each other, they will both slowly fall apart."

"How so?" asked Jennifer.

"You know the story of the seasons, do you not? _Without them, the seasons would end and our world and theirs would be sent into chaos. An endless winter would befall us_..."

"_Nothing would survive the bitter cold_," said Jennifer, quoting more of the story. "Is that why it's been colder lately?"

"That would seem so," said Sophos. "The changes are already in motion. You must find the remaining two cogs. Go now!"

They left Contineous once again. Mario exited last and looked back at Sophos. His face seemed grim.

**...**

**Author's Note**: This marks the end of the second chapter interlude. Right now I've sort of caught up with my ideas and need to brainstorm for Chapter Three. Any reviews about the story so far are greatly appreciated, as well as suggestions for the upcoming chapter in Autumnus, The Eternally Autumn Forest. Somebody mentioned doing a "Glitz Pit" style chapter (kind of how Chapter Two was an homage to the Excess Express mystery sort of thing) but I don't think that works superbly well for a chapter set inside of a forest. I'm throwing ideas around in my head for this chapter, but nothing has really stuck yet so by all means, give me some suggestions! Thanks for reading!


	16. CH 3 Part 1 :: Into the Darkness

Chapter Three Part One :: Into the Darkness

Getting to Autumnus was infintely easier than Insula. A train ride would take them most of the way, but only so close to the edge of the forest. They got some weird looks from other passengers because they were wearing the Squirrel Suits Jennifer had given to them. _How tall can this forest really be that we need these things_, thought Violet. She, out of everyone disliked the suits the most. Antony thought they were neat. Jennifer told them about the forest in more detail during the way there. While from above the forest looked beautiful, the part on the ground was gloomy, dark and intensely frightening. There were stories of explorers and tourists getting lost within the forest and never coming back. Luigi grew increasingly nervous as the train ride came closer and closer to an end. He was glad Toadsworth decided to hang back – he was even more easily frightened. Other than the stories about missing people, Jennifer didn't have much else to say about Autumnus. It was sort of the blemish of all of Tempora. Nobody wanted to go there anymore.

Mario sat with his head staring out the window of the train, gliding along the tracks. He replayed the moment over and over in his head – Invidus struck the ground with his hands, sending a shockwave of electricity outwards towards them. He saw his friends collapse to the ground. It was real. It really happened. They were dead. At least for the few moments that Mario took to activate Redonis Pastoris, they were. Never in all of his adventures had he failed like that. Never. He immediately felt immensely grateful for the little, golden pocketwatch he had. Without it, there was nothing he could have done. He looked at it for a few moments in the palm of his hand, brushing off some lint that had gotten stuck to it. Something about it seemed alive to him, like it was calling out to someone. Of course, it was a magic pocket watch – magic things do tend to have mysterious properties. Mario put it back into his pocket and enjoyed the scenery outside the window. They were speeding along grassy hillsides, but they gradually lost their greenish hue and turned to a more grey color. The trees as well, began to turn bright red and orange, leaves occasionally falling towards the ground. The trees became less and less sparse until suddenly up in the distance, they could see a giant wall of them up on the horizon. They must have been hundreds of feet tall, and every last one of them were either red, orange or some combination of both.

The intercom buzzed to life. "Attention passengers, we will be stopping in just a few minutes. This is the end of the line. Thank you for traveling with us."

"I guess it's time to go," said Jennifer with a quick yawn. They got off the train and left the station. It was a small building, and the last stop on the line. The tracks didn't dare go any closer to the looming forest up ahead. Unlike the tracks, they had no choice. Jennifer pulled out the compass one more time just to make sure, and shook it up a bit for good measure.

"Yep," she said. "This is where we need to go. We all ready?"

"I suppose," replied Violet.

"Sure thing," replied Antony.

"Let's-a-go!" said Mario and Luigi, simultaneously.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of that," said Jennifer. They walked along the short path up to the looming, autumn forest, passing by a handful of warning signs along the way. Luigi purposely avoided reading them. The trees towered above their heads. Birds flew around and above the treetops, making nests and overall having a good time. Their glances moved downwards from the colorful treetops, and the overall feeling of the forest dropped considerably. It was dark and gloomy at the bottom from the lack of light. The leaves became a thick mesh of organic material, clouded by the trees that towered above them, fighting for life. They hesitantly entered the forest and within minutes of walking they were completely and utterly surrounded by darkness.

"I can't see _anything_," said Jennifer. "Can you guys?"

"I'm on it," replied Antony, pulling out a vial of yellow bubbling liquid. "This stuff will glow nice and bright for a while."

He opened the vial and rubbed it on a tree branch with some leaves still attached to it. The undergrowth of the forest came to life. They were essentially walking under a massive canopy of dead leaves and branches, under which were a bunch of dead, decaying leaves and mushrooms sucking up the rest of their nutrients. The musty smell penetrated their noses.

"There, this isn't so bad now."

As if on cue, a mysterious squeaking noise came from an unknown source, and some rustling as well. Suddenly a fuzzy, purple creature with crazy looking eyes and fangs bounced down from the canopy of branches above them.

"What is that?" said Violet. Before being able to respond, the creature jumped towards her and stuck to her body, starting to squeeze. "Ahh, get it off me!"

The creature bit down on her before they could get it off of her. Springing into action, Mario jumped on it with all of his strength. It whimpered a bit, and then bounded off back into the bushes.

"That," said Jennifer, "was a Poison Fuzzy. I hope you've got something for poison, Antony. Otherwise, this could be bad."

"You bet I do," he replied, pulling out a smaller vial of red liquid and giving it to Violet who was in a bit of a daze. "Here, drink this."

She drank it and felt better after a few moments. Jennifer looked at Antony in admiration. He really was always prepared for anything.

"I've only got a few of those, so let's not make a habit of getting bit by them."

"Don't worry," said Violet, "I don't plan to."

After a while of walking carefully through the forest, they came upon an opening not obscured by the thick, thorny canopy of dead leaves and mangled branches. Light from luminous mushrooms dimly lit the area. Two ghoulish snickers echoed from around them.

"W-what was that," said Luigi. He turned his head in both directions looking for the source.

"I hope it isn't what I think it is..." said Jennifer. The two voices snickered again. This time they seemed closer. There was a brief pause of silence, and then...

"BWWAAAAA!" shrieked two Boos. Their faces contorted in every possible way, with mouths wide open baring four large fangs, two on each side. Everybody jumped. Luigi tried to run backwards, but Mario stopped him with his arm, as did Violet, who was stopped by Jennifer. The two Boos returned to normal size, looking somewhat disappointing by the lack of running away they probably expected. A third Boo appeared from behind them, rather un-scarily. The Boo on the left began to speak.

"Oh, come on, Thomas," he said as he spoke to the Boo who had just appeared. "If you would have actually _helped_ us, we might have actually been able to scare these travelers."

"Yeah, what's with you," questioned the other Boo, "don't you enjoy scaring?"

"I'd rather prefer leaving them alone," Thomas replied, softly and dismally. "What have they ever done to deserve it." He didn't raise his pitch at the end of his question, making it seem more like a depressing statement.

"Oh, whatever. Killjoy." The two Boos faded away into the darkness, leaving Thomas and several semi-frightened travelers. Jennifer broke their stunned silence.

"So...Thomas, is it?"

"Yes, that is my name," he said gloomily. "But it doesn't matter anyway..."

"Okay, then."

More silence.

"I suppose," said Thomas, "that you are probably lost."

"More or less"

"And I suppose," he paused again, "that you want my help."

Jennifer looked to Mario. He nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Yes."

Thomas let out a long, exasperated sigh. "I suppose I'll do so. It's not like I have anything better to do. Come along now, I'll show you the way..."

Thomas led them out of the clearing and back into the darkness. It took a few minutes for everyone to snap out of the traumatic scare. Luigi and Violet, at least.

"So why don't you like scaring, Thomas?" asked Violet.

He took a few moments to answer, and when he did it was slow and monotonous like usual. "Scaring isn't exactly my strong suit."

"Any other reasons?"

"Not really."

"Oh, okay."

"I wish I was scary. I've tried, believe me. But contrary to popular belief, not all Boos like to scare."

"So what do you like to do?"

"That's...personal."

"You'd get along well with Antony," said Jennifer. "He has confidential secrets too."

"Hey, there's a difference between secrets pertaining to research and my personal life. I'm an open book for the latter."

They came upon another clearing, this one much larger than the last. The ground was lit by the luminous mushrooms, but the ceiling of the clearing extended much higher and allowed in a little bit of light. In the middle was a giant, sprawling entanglement of tree roots. They went out in every direction from the center, burrowing into the ground and out randomly. The central trunk was as wide as a house. Where each of the roots met the trunk, small openings could be seen. They were like little doors.

"Whoa, what is this place?" said Jennifer.

"The home of the Autumn Punies," said Thomas, sighing afterwards."Boos come around here all the time to scare them. I think it's pointless. We can't even go into their tree."

"Why is that?"

"It's too bright. Boos don't much like light..."

"Oh, well...can you still stay with us?"

Thomas seemed surprised, although nobody would have noticed it. "I suppose," he said, sighing once more. "I actually don't mind the light so much. You get used to it after a while..."

They made their way over to one of the larger branches, walking up onto it and to the trunk in the center. An opening in the trunk led to a large, spiral ramp going up the trunk of the tree. The ramp was very reached a level on the ramp at which light came in from several openings in the side. Outside of the trunk were several of the massive branches from the tree they had been climbing up. Punies of several colors were milling about everywhere. They were red, yellow and everything in between. Some of them looked up at them, puzzled. Some random ones fled immediately at the sight of Thomas.

"So are all Punies scared of Boos?" asked Antony.

"Mostly," replied Thomas. An orange Punie came up to them, looking up at Mario.

"Excuse me," it said in a high-pitched voice, "can I help you?"

"Yes," said Mario. "We're looking for a golden-"

"Oh, the shiny? Yes, yes. I know what you talk about."

"Where is it? Can we have it?"

"No no no, silly creatures. You must win to have the shiny. You already have flying suits, I see. Come, come, come. I'll show you what we do for winning the shiny."

The orange Punie led them back into the trunk of the tree and to an even higher level. They were nearly at the top of the forest before it led them out onto another massive branch. Above them was a thin layer of the highest portion of the canopy. Sunlight shown down in rays from gaps in the leaves. Below them was the upper canopy of the forest, hundreds of feet between them and the thick lower section they were recently under. The branch they were standing on was smaller than the previous ones. Ten or so Punies were standing precariously on the edge of it, each wearing a different color flag around their antenna. The orange Punie ushered them over to the edge, in line with the other Punies.

"First challenge is race. Second challenge is Punieball. Final challenge is test of wits. On your mark, get set, GO!"

The Punies launched off the edge of the branch and into the air and extending out flaps of skin between their legs to glide through the air.

"No waiting. You must go!" The Punie pushed all of them, somehow, off the edge of the branch. "Good luuuucckkk!"

It's voice trailed off as they plummeted downwards.


	17. CH 3 Part 2 :: The Punie Games

Chapter Three Part Two : The Punie Games

Being a Boo, Thomas simply floated in place above them as they plummeted down through the air, watching his new friends as they spread their squirrel suits. Suddenly, they were falling less downward and more horizontally, gliding gracefully through the air. Perhaps not that gracefully. Getting their bearings, they could see the Punies speeding off away from them towards a colored gate with two flags marking its boundaries. With the air rushing past them, they sped off towards it to catch up. Upon making it through the first gate, they started to become separated because a huge tree was soon in front of their faces. Violet and Jennifer veered off towards the left, with Mario, Luigi and Antony veering off towards the right. They crashed through a loose branch, spraying leaves behind them.

Upon getting out of the leaves, Antony let out a yell of excitement. "Woooooooo...uh oh!"

Antony quickly soared downwards to avoid hitting a large, thick branch, but clipped the underside of it with his foot, sending him plummeting down further. At this moment, Jennifer and Violet had rejoined them. Jennifer flew down after and under him, allowing him to stabilize.

"Whew! Thanks!"

"No problem," said Jennifer. She smiled.

"Watch out!" yelled Violet. Jennifer and Antony barely avoided yet another branch. The next gate was much further down ahead of them.

"Looks like it's time to dive!" The five of them angled themselves slightly downwards, and the wind began to rush past them even faster. They flew past most of the Punies that had been ahead of them, leaving only a few left to beat. Luigi's squirrel suit started flapping wildly in the tumultuous winds, his arms and legs shaking uncontrollably from the intense speeds.

"You okay, bro?" yelled Mario, unsure if Luigi could even hear him.

"Wawawawawawa!"

"I'll take that as-a maybe!"

They shot through the next gate, causing the flags to flap wildly from the gust of wind they brought with them as they went through it. Ahead and down a little ways was the finish line. One Punie stood between them and victory, but only one of them had to win.

"I don't think we can make it!" yelled Antony.

Jennifer thought for a moment. "I have an idea! Violet, let us throw you!"

"What? No!"

"It's the only way! You're so light, we can throw you really hard!"

Antony and Jennifer glided over towards Violet, ignoring her defiance, grabbing her by the sides.

"One...two...GO!"

They propelled Violet with their arms, somehow for Jennifer, and sent her soaring through the air straight in a beeline towards the finish line. At the end was a giant pile of leaves and several hundred Punies cheering and squeaking. The Punie ahead of them was about to win, but heard Violet coming up from behind him. The Punie turned his head back only to see Violet shot past him in a blur of purple and through the finish line. And then straight into the pile, causing an explosion of leaves. The crowd of Punies went wild, and the rest of the racers finished soon after.

"That was amazing!' said Jennifer. A black and white Punie came up to Violet.

"You win!" said the Punie.

"Oh, we're a team," she responded, gesturing to everybody else, who was trudging their way out of the giant pile of leaves.

"Okay. Team is good. The next event is Punieball!"

The hundreds of other Punies starting chanting, "Punieball! Punieball!" and entered into the trunk of the tree of which branch they were on. The hoard of Punies flowed down through the spiral ramp in the trunk like a river, with everyone following behind them.

"Hey," said Violet, "where's Thomas?"

They had almost forgot about Thomas. "He wasn't in the race," said Jennifer, "so I guess he must be at the main tree."

That's where the Punies seemed to be heading, so they followed them there. But to get back, they needed to traverse the forest on the ground. When they got to the ground level, it was already much darker once again. The Punies in front of them slowed to a halt. The black and white Punie ref in charge was in front of them.

"You know," said Antony. "you have to wonder...was that Punie _born_ that way, or..."

"Okay, Punies. Get in formation!" said the black and white Punie.

The rest of the Punies arranged themselves into several groups of twenty or so, each separated by a couple feet. In total there were around two-hundred of them.

"Annddd...march!"

The Punies marched along the dank forest floor at a moderate pace. The groups on the outside of the formation seemed to be more nervous than those on the inside. Suddenly, some snickering came from both sides of them.

"Bwahahaha!" screamed one of the Boos who appeared to the left.

"SCRAMBLE!" ordered the black and white Punie. Every Punie skittered off in a random direction. The Boo on the right suddenly appeared. "BWAAAA!" Some of the Punies ended up tumbling over themselves in an effort to turn away from the Boo. Most of the Punies were running in the same direction now, as if they were being herded.

"Alright, here he goes..." said one of the Boos.

Thomas appeared in front of where the Punies were running to. "_Bwa~"_

The Punies ran straight under him, leaving only the Boos, Mario and company.

"Oh, _come on_, Thomas! You said you would try this time. What was that? '_Bwa~'_ ? That's not even a scream. Or a yell, er, well whatever that noise we make is."

"Eh, give him a break," said the other Boo. "At least he tried."

"Yeah, yeah...let's go and scare somethin' else." The two other Boos faded away.

Thomas looked down at the ground. "I'm a failure. I thought if I tried I could scare somebody, but I guess it's just not possible."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," said Violet. "We've all got things we wish had, or we were better at. I wish I was stronger."

"Yeah," said Antony. "and I can't whistle."

"I'm not that-a talkative," said Mario.

"I've got anxiety problems," said Luigi.

Everyone looked at Jennifer. "I, uhh...I don't have arms."

"Yeah, that's kind of problematic," said Antony.

"Thanks," said Thomas. "I've never had such good friends before. Would you mind if I stuck with you for awhile?"

"Join the crew," said Mario. "The more, the merrier!"

There were a few moments of silence. Jennifer broke the silence. "Hey, we should probably get back to the tree, we've got a game to win!"

They rushed through the underbrush of the forest, and tried not to get lost as best they could. Eventually, they found themselves back at the tree and began the trek back up its trunk. They reached a different branch this time, that opened up to a large, open area. Several, large branches sprawled out in every direction. One of the larger branches was flattened over a sizable area, and had markings inside of a large circle painted on the top. Three teams of Punies grouped at each corner of the circle with a small net made of twigs and leaves behind them. Mario and company went to the only remaining spot. The black and white Punie was in the middle of the court.

"Rules of Punieball are simple. Put ball in opposite side's net. Only forehead contact allowed with ball..."

Antony whispered, "What? How are we supposed to-"

"...and no use of feet or arms." The black and white Punie glanced at them. "That means _you."_

"There's no way we're going to win this," said Antony. "I'm too tall to move the ball with my forehead, that's just ridiculous. And we can't even kick it or pick it up with our hands?"

"...I've got this," said Jennifer, stepping up in front of them.

The black and white Punie balanced the ball on top of himself. "Three...two...one...Punieball!"

He launched the ball into the air and it started to bounce in the middle of the circular court. The other three teams made their way towards it, as did Jennifer. Everybody else just watched. She hit the ball head-on, sending it flying above the opposing team of Punies and into the net behind them.

"And that's the game!" yelled the Punie. "This must be the shortest game of Punieball in Punie history!"

"Way to go, Jenny!" cheered Violet. The other three teams of Punies walked away in disbelief that the game was over so quickly. Before they could get a moment of rest, all of the Punies were heading back into the trunk of the tree and up to the highest level above the canopy of the forest. It was beginning to become sunset now, and they were so high up that the sun was below the canopy of the forest. The Punies all gathered around the center of the top of the tree.

"Final challenge is test of wits! Are all teams ready?"

"Each of the three other teams separated themselves around the center of the trunk, leaving room for Mario and company in the final quadrant. Thomas floated behind them, getting some weird looks from some of the Punies.

"Okay," said the Punie ref, "first question. What are the four regions of Tempora?"

Each of the teams began whispering frantically.

"_Oh, I know this!"_ said Jennifer.

"Yes? What is your answer?"

"Verion for spring, Aestasi for summer, Autumnus for autumn and...Hiembri for winter!"

"Correct! That is one point for team...what is your team name?"

"Umm, how about Team 'Mario'" said Jennifer.

"One point for Team 'Mario'!"

The Punie audience cheered. "Next question," said the ref. "Who was the Grand Punie Elder of the 6th Punie Dynasty?"

One of the other teams responded rather quickly. "Elder Prune!"

"Correct! That's one point for Team 'BooKillers'!" said the ref. Thomas seemed suddenly surprised. "Oh, don't worry," said the ref, "it's only a team name."

The Punie audience cheered once again. "Third question," said the ref. "There are five questions in total, may I remind you. What is the only way that the barrier of Tempora will open?"

"Every 10,000 years," said another team.

"I'm afraid your answer is only partially correct," said the ref. "For what other reason will the barrier open?"

"_Ahem_," coughed Mario. "...for the heroes to be allowed into Tempora?"

"Correct! That's two points for Team 'Mario'!" The Punie audience cheered again. "Fourth question. It was foretold in prophesy that when the heroes arrive, they will find what kind of object that will guide them towards what they seek?"

"Oh, this one is easy," said Jennifer. "The golden pocketwatch!"

The ref frowned. "Incorrect, any other teams have the answer?"

"A compass!" answered the spokespunie from Team BooKillers.

"Correct," said the ref. "That's two points for Team 'BooKillers' and two points for Team 'Mario'. The last question will decide the winner, and who will get the shiny!"

The audience cheered even more loudly.

"Final question," said the Punie ref. "What are the two souls of perfection embodied in the golden pocketwatch and silver compass?"

"What?" said Antony. "Souls of perfection? What are those?" They looked at Mario, as if to receive explanation. The other Punies looked at them in confusion. The didn't know they were in possession of those legendary items.

Team BooKillers answered. "Amori, the soul of love, and Vallus, the soul of courage."

"Correct," exclaimed the ref. "That's three points for Team BooKillers. Congratulations!"

The Punie audience erupted, and the shiny was brought out by another Punie, except it wasn't the next golden cog at all.

"It's a golden _mushroom_?" said Jennifer.

"Of course," said one of the audience members next to them. "The prize is always a golden mushroom."

They all looked dumbfounded. Mario walked up to the Punie ref. "Excuse-a me," he said, "we thought you had the golden cog."

The ref seemed surprised, and whispered to Mario, "_you know about that? Not many know of this_."

Luigi walked up behind him. "We're the heroes of the prophesy," he said smugly.

The ref had a stunned look on his face. "Oh, well this is quite the surprise. Do you have the pocketwatch and compass?"

Mario pulled out the pocketwatch, and Jennifer pulled out the compass. The ref still seemed surprised. "Okay, come with me!"

The ref led them down back into the trunk of the tree, leaving behind the audience of Punies still cheering for the Team who had won the tournament. As they were walking down through the trunk, Jennifer suddenly realized that they had won two of three events. "Hey, shouldn't we have won? We won two out of three of the events!"

"Oh, sorry. The last event is worth triple!"

He led them down into the depths of the trees roots, which were carved out over years and years in a complex maze of tunnels that descended far below into the ground.

**Author's Note : **Sorry it's been so long! I've been really busy lately and it's been hard to find the motivation to write, but alas, here's the next chapter! 


	18. CH 3 Part 3 :: The Maze of Roots

Chapter Three Part Three : The Maze of Roots

The complex root system underneath the giant tree's base seemed to go on forever. The tunnels made from carving out the inside of the roots began to get smaller and smaller the further they went downwards, twisting and curving in every direction. Intersections of different roots made it almost impossible to keep track of where they were going, but the Punie leading the way seemed to know where it was going.

"Almost there," said the Punie. "No Punie been down here for long time."

Jennifer pondered for a moment. "How long?"

The Punie thought for a moment as well, "...not sure" it said, then continued onward without saying another word. A few minutes passed, and they still had not arrived at the bottom of the root system where the golden cog was supposed to be kept. Mario began to doubt whether or not the Punie knew where he was leading them.

"Ahem," Mario coughed politely, "how close are we now?"

The Punie seemed distressed. "Umm..."

"...oh, great," said Thomas, rather depressingly. Everyone was surprised to see him say something. "we're never going to get out of here are we..."

"Surely we can find our way back," reassured Jennifer. "All we have to do is always go up!"

"Well..." said the Punie.

"...well _what_?" said Antony.

"The roots of the great tree...they don't always stay in one place."

"What? How?" said Violet.

"The tree is as much alive as you and I," said the Punie. "The roots are constantly shifting and changing so that only the heroes foretold in prophesy would be able to navigate them."

Everyone paused for a moment, until Jennifer spoke up. "Well, what have we got that can help us navigate this maze that only we would have?"

"I have some vials of fire powder," said Antony.

"No!" exclaimed the Punie. "You cannot use fire down here. The roots are much too dry at this depth."

"Okay...no fire then. Anybody have anything useful? Jennifer? Violet? Mario? Luigi?"

They all nodded disappointingly.

"...I might be able to help," said Thomas.

"How so?"

"I can phase in and out of the walls and into the ground to see where to go."

"That's perfect!" exclaimed Violet. She could have sworn she almost saw Thomas smile.

"I'll see what I can see," he replied, becoming invisible and phasing through the wall. A few moments passed and he came back through it.

"We made a wrong turn a couple minutes back. I can see a really big chamber a little ways away."

"Good job, T-man!" said Antony.

"Yeah, that was awesome," said Jennifer.

Thomas seemed happy with himself and his contribution. They made their way back up to the last intersection, with Thomas leading the way in the front. The Punie was in the back, looking rather embarrassed. After making the right turn, they found themselves in the large opening that Thomas had seen earlier.

"This is it," said the Punie. "The heart of the tree."

The room was a large cavern, presumably carved from a very large knot in the tree's roots. In the center was a wooden table carved out from the floor with a round, flat obtrusion in the middle.

"This is as far as I go," said the Punie. "Only the heroes may have the chance to pass the challenge to obtain the golden cog."

"_Another_ challenge?" said Jennifer. "We just won the last one!"

The Punie ignored her and made his way back from where they came, leaving them alone deep in the heart of the tree.

"Well, I guess we push the button," said Luigi. Everyone gathered around the table and looked to Mario. He sighed, and pressed the button.

Immediately, the floor surrounding the table slid out from underneath them, sending them down into several different plumes carved out from the roots. Mario and Luigi fell into one, Thomas and Violet another, with Antony and Jennifer into the last.

Thomas and Violet slid down the smooth slide, twisting and turning every which way until they finally found themselves into another room carved out from the roots.

"I don't know about you," said Thomas, "but I'm getting rather tired of all these roots."

"You and me, both," replied Violet, dusting herself off from the surprise sliding adventure.

"...where is everybody else?"

Mario and Luigi found themselves in a similar situation, but in a different room entirely.

"You alright, bro?" said Luigi.

"Yeah, you?"

"...mostly. I'd like a Tasty Tonic or two, but I could do without"

"Should I use the pocketwatch to go back?"

Luigi pondered for a moment. "I don't see why not."

Mario pulled it out and turned the outer rim counterclockwise only about a minute. That was all he needed to prevent them from falling for the trap. It clicked into place, but nothing happened.

"...bro?" said Luigi. "...did you go back in time? It's-a kind of hard to tell"

"No," said Mario, grimly.

Antony and Jennifer had started to try and find their way out of where the slide led them to. There was only one way to go, so that's the way they went.

"So Antony..."

"Yeah?"

"Since it seems like there's no-one else around, why don't you tell me what that secret research project is all about?"

Antony thought for a moment. "You know, I don't call it a secret project just because it sounds cool."

Jennifer just waited.

"Alright," he said. "the secret project I've been working on is..."

"Don't do this to me," she responded. "Just spit it out!"

"Okay, okay. Geez. It's, well. It's hard to explain. I'm researching the sensitive dependence on initial conditions where a small change in one state in a deterministic nonlinear system results in a large change in a later state."

"...say what?"

"The butterfly effect, specifically in regards to the seasons."

"Oh, that makes much more sense. Cool! Any interesting findings?"

"None yet, but that's probably because I'm taking a hiatus by tagging along with all of you guys"

"Well I'm glad. We'd be in a lot of trouble if you hadn't been there to save us multiple times already."

"Thanks! And I'm glad to be a part of something so monumental."

They walked side by side through the dimly lit, constricted tunnel. Antony snapped off a stick protruding from one of the walls, then opened up a vial of his fire powder, rubbing some on his fingertips. He snapped his fingers onto the stick, catching it on fire so there could be more light.

Thomas and Violet pressed onward through the root system. Thomas tried to phase through the wall, but couldn't no matter how hard he tried.

"There's something blocking my ability to phase through the walls" said Thomas.

"That's weird," said Violet. "I wonder what it could be?"

"I've heard stories of Boos being unable to go through walls."

"And what did you hear?"

"There's some sort of magic going on here, that's for sure."

"I guess we'll have to find our way without then."

"Yeah, I guess."

About a minute of silence passed. Neither of them were too keen on conversation, but the deafening silence finally caused Violet to say something.

"Why aren't you like other Boos?"

Thomas seemed surprised by the sudden question. "I-I..I don't really know. I just...don't like scaring is all. Maybe if I wasn't so terrible at it..."

"There's nothing wrong with not liking scaring," said Violet.

"You think so?"

"Of course. Nobody says you have to like certain things. You have every right to do what makes you happy, regardless of what everybody else says...what makes you happy, Thomas?"

"...I'm not sure yet."

"Nothing? Not even a little?" Violet responded, looking into his sullen, dark eyes.

Suddenly Thomas felt a twinge of confidence. "You."

"...me?"

He looked away. _How could I say that, _he thought. _Great, now what have I done_.

Violet looked at him again. "That's really sweet," she said, smiling genuinely. Thomas couldn't help but smile himself. There wasn't anything cuter than a little purple flower smiling up at him.

It wasn't long after until everyone's paths met up once again in another large opening. Mario and Luigi arrived first, with Thomas and Violet soon after.

"Where are Jennifer and Antony?" said Mario.

"We don't know," replied Violet. "It was just Thomas and I."

Mario walked hurriedly towards the opening that neither group come from, with Luigi following closely behind. They jogged through the cramped tunnel for a few minutes, and came to a sudden stop.

"I smell...smoke," said Luigi.

"Oh, no..." replied Mario.

Antony lay down, keeping his mouth close to the floor of the tunnel. The smoke from the fire filling the air with toxic fumes. Jennifer lay further behind him, unconscious. The fire from Antony's torch lit some sort of pocket of gas, causing a small explosion, sending them flying and setting the walls on fire. Mario and Luigi ran up to Antony.

"Are you alright?" said Mario.

"Yeah," he coughed, "get Jenny...she-"

They ran towards Jennifer, who lay unconscious but still breathing on the floor of the tunnel. Mario picked her up, and Luigi helped Antony to his feet. They ran as fast as they could, trying hard not to inhale the smoke, and came into the room previous with Thomas and Violet waiting nervously.

"What happened?" Violet exclaimed. Mario let Jennifer down to the ground.

"I..." Antony stumbled, "I made a torch, and there was an explosion." Anthony felt so embarrassed. The Punie had told him not to use the fire, but he did anyways.

"Didn't you hear what the Punie said about using fire?"

He frowned even further. "...yes. It was stupid, I can't believe I did that."

Jennifer coughed. "...I forgive you," she said and let out another cough.

"Well, I'm glad so," said Antony. "It's time like these that I wish I had a magical pocketwatch that let me go back in time to fix my mistakes."

Mario frowned. "About that," he said, "the pocketwatch isn't working right now."

"Thomas wasn't able to go through walls, either," said Violet.

"What is going on?" said Luigi.

None of them had taken the time to actually observe the surroundings in the room they found themselves in. A large mass of green vines with spikes on them was in the center of the room, with six larger ones sprawled out in every direction on the floor. Attached to the middle was a large, dark read head with black spots and a mouth with several fangs attached. A small bubble appeared in the mouth of the creature, growing ever so slightly until it finally popped with a sharp snap.

Luigi stood with his mouth agape. "That is the most terrifying Piranha Plant I have ever seen..."

**Author's Note : **

Hope you don't mind a character-building episode! We're getting close to the end of the third chapter, and you know what that means - another interlude! And after the interlude will be the fourth chapter. And...after the _fourth_ chapter is the finale! It's still a ways off, but it's really exciting to be getting closer to the end of my story! I recently began brainstorming how I'm going to tie everything together in the end, and let's just say I'm super excited to see how it ends up when I write it.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Please leave a review if you haven't before, and if you have, you're the best! :D


	19. CH 3 Part 4 :: Putrid Poisonous Piranha

And, the conclusion to chapter three is finally here! It's not quite as long as the usual chapters, but that's okay. Hope you enjoy, and expect there to be more chapters coming up soon. Only one chapter and the finale remains, and I'm really excited to start writing them!

Chapter Three Part Four : Poison Putrid Piranha Plant

The giant Piranha Plant let out a terrifying roar, small bits of purple, putrid saliva spraying out from the edges of its mouth. Each of its six roots suddenly came to life and rose into the air. Purple spikes were spread throughout each tentacle, like an octopus.

"...Jennifer?" questioned Mario. "Any advice on how to handle this thing?"

Jennifer thought for a moment. "Um, it looks like a Poison Piranha, except super-sized. The spikes on the tentacles are definitely...not normal, and most likely poisonous. In fact, I'd be willing to bet everything about it is poisonous."

"G-g-good to know," stammered Luigi.

The Piranha Plant swept one of its tentacles towards all of them, knocking them to their backs. Mario got up quickly, ready for the next swipe only to be facing the head of the beast. Nearly fainting from the stench of being so close, Mario summoned his courage and jumped as high as he could, landing on top of the Piranha Plant's head and bouncing off onto the ground on the other side of the room. It roared loudly once more, and started spinning around clockwise with its six tentacles sweeping on the floor.

"Jump!" yelled Antony. They were all spread out now, each of them in one of the six quadrants created by the creature's tentacles.

"Jump again!" he yelled a second time. The speed was starting to increase rapidly, and they jumped over and over again as the tentacles spun round and round.

"This is starting to get..._huff..._difficult!" yelled Violet, who was having trouble keeping up.

"Doesn't seem that hard to me," said Thomas who floated a couple feet above the ground.

"Not!" Violet jumped over the next tentacle. "Funny!"

Suddenly, the Piranha Plant started moving its tentacles up and down as they spun. One knocked into Thomas, but he quickly regained his bearings and started weaving up and down to dodge the tentacles.

"Karma!" said Antony as he jumped over the next tentacle.

"Okay..." said Jennifer. "This...is not...working! Mario, can't you do something?"

He thought for a moment. He couldn't use the pocket-watch because it wouldn't work for whatever reason. If anything were to happen to him or his friends, there would be nothing he could do to fix it. Memories of what happened in Contineous once again resurfaced in his mind. Terrified of the outcome, he forced himself to keep thinking. The entire situation seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. It was something about the spinning of the tentacles. Suddenly, the answer came to him.

"It's a clock," said Mario. "or at least it resembles a clock."

"Okay," replied Jennifer as she ducked under the next tentacle. "So how does that help us?" "The Punie said the clock and compass are embodied by the two souls of perfection, right?" said Antony. "If the pocket-watch is the soul of love and the compass is the soul of courage, maybe the compass points towards the clock!"

"Can you use the compass, Jennifer?" said Mario.

Jennifer pulled out the compass. The needle was pointing towards the center of the room, right where the Piranha Plant's head was.

"It's pointing towards the center!"

"Well whatever is there," said Antony, "is where you're supposed to go!"

"I can't go _in that thing's mouth!_"

"Sophos said the compass points to where it wants to go," replied Antony. "So, go!"

"There's no way in Tempora I'm getting any closer to that thing."

"Give it to me," said Thomas, "I can do it."

She tossed the compass to Thomas. He made his way towards the mouth of the Piranha Plant as the rest continued jumping over and ducking under the spinning tentacles. The needle seemed to be pointing towards the inside of the creature's mouth.

"This thing points to where it wants to go?" asked Thomas.

"Yes!" replied Jennifier. A few moments passed, and he threw the compass into the Piranha Plant's mouth. A few moments later, the Piranha Plant let out one last deafening roar and stopped spinning its tentacles. Then, it exploded, splattering bits of plant matter and purple spit all across the room. In the center of the room, the shining golden cog remained. Trudging through the goop, Mario picked it up.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," said Antony as he flicked some of the goop off his shell.

"No,"said Violet. "That was dreadfully disgusting."

"Where is the compass?" said Violet.

"Right here," replied Thomas, picking it up from under one of the tentacles.

"Thanks, Thomas," said Jennifer. "That was really brave."

"Let's get _out_ of here," said Luigi.

"Agreed," said Mario, nodding his head.

They made their way up through the maze of roots with ease, meeting up with the Punie that led them earlier at the top of the tree where they had began the squirrel-suit race. It was sunset.

"You are very brave," said the Punie. "We all wish you good luck in the rest of your adventure."

"Thanks," said Mario. They stood at the very top of the tree with their squirrel-suits on.

"Are you sure this is the safest way to get out of the forest?" said Luigi.

"Would you rather go back down to the forest floor, where it's pitch black and there are at least four things trying to kill you at every moment?" said Jennifer.

"...no," he replied.

"Alright, then."

"Let's get out of here then," said Violet.

"Wait-" said the Punie. "There's something you should know about the prophesy. It was said that near the end of the Heroes' journey, darkness would merge with light."

"And...what does that mean, exactly?" said Jennifer.

The Punie continued. "Combining darkness with light would corrupt the light, finalizing the fates of both good and evil. Nothing can undo the evils that this would achieve. Take my heed: do not allow darkness to combine with light, under any circumstances."

"We will," said Mario, nodding his head solemnly.

"Good luck," said the Punie.

"Let's fly," said Antony. They jumped off the branch from the top of the tree and soared through the orange treetops.

At the train station near the edge of the forest, they waited for the train to arrive. Mario thought about the battle with the Piranha Plant. If anything had happened to anybody, there would have been nothing he could have done. Luigi looked worriedly at his brother.

"What is it, bro?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about when...Invidus hurt all of you."

"He did?"

"It was before I used the pocket-watch to go back in time."

"What happened to us?"

"You were...dead," said Mario, looking down to the ground. Luigi seemed slightly shocked, but then regained his nerves. "Well, you saved us didn't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Listen, bro. You've saved people hundreds of times before, what makes this any different?"

He thought for a moment. "I've never failed before. I've never..."

"But you didn't fail. You saved us. It doesn't matter that you had to go back in time to do it. That's' what makes you a hero. You'll do anything to do what is right. Whatever it takes, you always find a way." Luigi smiled at Mario. "I've always got your back, bro. Just in case you ever _really_ screw up, I'll be there for you."

Mario smiled and looked back. "Thanks, bro."

"No problem."

The train arrived at the station just in time. It was starting to get dark outside and the air was getting chillier than usual.


	20. Interlude 3 Part 1 :: Visum Postera

Interlude Three Part One : Visum Postera

The train rolled into the station at Tempora. A chilly wind blew through the air and rushed through the streets. The sky was grey and a light flurry of snow scattered around. Not many people were outside, but rather were huddled within the walls of their houses, confined by the harshness of the air. The warm, bustling town it used to be was no longer. Mario and the rest de-boarded the train.

"Brr!" said Violet, grabbing her body with her arms and shivering.

"What happened?" said Luigi, looking up at the overcast skies.

A grim face appeared on Jennifer. "_Without them, the seasons would end and our world and theirs would be sent into chaos. An endless winter would befall us. There would be no warmth, no heat, and no love. Nothing would survive the bitter cold."_

She was quoting the story of the seasons, of course. By this time, everyone was familiar with the story. Without the two lovers, the two beings of perfection in the other world beyond Contineous, the world between worlds, the seasons would grind to a halt.

"Let's go find Sophos," said Mario. There was no time to waste.

At the gateway to Contineous, Mario pulled out the pocket-watch to open it, causing the face of the clock to become like liquid. He walked through, followed by Luigi, Jennifer, Antony, Violet, and Thomas. Upon entering Contineous, a familiar voice greeted them once again.

"I was hoping that you would return soon," said Sophos. His sage-like eyes looked up at Mario.

"I see you've acquired another member," he said, glancing at Thomas.

"My name is Thomas."

"Indeed. It is odd of you to have come across a Boo willing to help you, Mario."

Thomas looked uneasy.

"Of course," said Sophos, "what you are makes no matter in what you do. Not many Boos are virtuous, so the fact that you are here speaks a lot for itself."

"...thank you," replied Thomas. "That...means a lot to me."

"I trust you have the third golden cog?" asked Sophos to Mario.

"We d0," replied and walked over to where the two other cogs rest. They both spun clockwise with perfect synchronization, shining in the ethereal light of Contineous. He placed the third and locked it into place and it immediately began rotating like the others. He stared at the last remaining peg. When they would find and bring back the last golden cog, they would finally be able to enter the perfect world. Mario thought about that world for a moment before returning to Sophos.

"Sophos," said Mario. "What is the name of the world that Contineous bridges to ours?"

"Silentium Amoris," he responded. "It means silent love. The perfect world, although intricately connected to ours, remains so in secrecy such that the bonds between them can remain intact. The bond between worlds as we known them are the seasons. The two lovers symbolize this bond, and is the reason why their separation has caused so much despair."

Antony took a step forward. "The Punies in the Autumn Forest spoke of a prophecy. They said there are two souls of perfection embodied in the golden pocket-watch and the compass."

"Yes," replied Sophos. "That seems to be the case."

"You didn't know?"

"I may be an old, wise sage, but I do not know _all_ things, but with the power you have restored to the gate with this golden cog, _you _may be able. Mario, the next ability usable by the pocket-watch is called Visum Postera. This ability is very powerful, and must be used only in dire situations."

Mario looked down at the pocket-watch. He hoped he would never have to use it again.

"To use this ability, you simply turn the outer rim of the pocket-watch clockwise and close your eyes. A vision of the future will present itself to you, and you only. This vision will not be set in stone. The future is always something that one can change. Fate may be a powerful force, but without the determination and courage that comes along with it, it would be nothing. Use this ability carefully, Mario. There is no immediate danger of using the ability like the previous ones. The danger, rather, lies in yourself. Knowing the future is a powerful tool, and even the most honorable and virtuous can be corrupted by the knowledge it presents. Sometimes, not knowing is best, so take care."

Mario took a large gulp. He had of course, felt pressure before, but this time everything seemed even more real. Everyone was counting on him. "Yes, Sophos. I will be very careful."

"I wish you all the best of luck in finding the last remaining golden cog."

"Thank you," said Luigi.

Sophos looked onwards for a moment. "Wait," he said. They turned around. "There is one more thing that you must know."

He paused for a moment.

"You are all here for a reason. You all play an important role, as you are the heroes foretold in prophesy, I have no doubt. Thomas, you are shy, but also soft-spoken and humble."

He blushed a little from the attention. Violet looked at him and smiled.

"Antony, you are boastful, but intelligent and prideful."

"Sounds about right," said Jennifer snarkily.

"Jennifer," said Sophos. "You have a need for being in control, but are also an excellent leader and trustworthy."

"_That_ sounds about right," said Antony.

"Violet," said Sophos, "you are not powerful, but are courteous and a great friend."

"Luigi, you have moments of cowardice, but are also loyal and important to those around you."

"Lastly, Mario, you are worrisome, but also powerful, wise, and you have a heroic spirit. All of you have unique gifts, and my advice to you is that you use them to the best of your abilities. Good luck in your journeys. My duties have finally been fulfilled."

A beam of energy shone directly down on Sophos, bathing him in light. Within moments, he was gone.

Everyone was speechless. After a few seconds had passed, Jennifer broke the silence. "Sophos...said he chose to reside in Contineous to offer his sagely advice. I guess...his duties have been fulfilled to completion."

Mario knew now that whatever lied ahead, it was the final step of their journey.

**Author's Note**: Things are starting to come to a close! But don't worry, there's still a lot left to go. I've left a lot of loose ends alone for awhile, and I want to make sure I tie things together properly. I really want to end this story right. These interludes are always easier to write than the regular chapters (partially because they are generally shorter in length). I'm so excited to finally begin writing the final chapter/finale! Let's hope I can continue feeling that way.


	21. Interlude 3 Part 2 :: Memories

**Author's Note**: Two days in a row I update! That's got to be a record or something. This will be the last part of the third interlude.

Interlude Three Part Two : Memories

They returned to the Inn after going back through the gate to the normal world. It was starting to get dark outside.

"Mario! I'm so relieved to see you've returned!" exclaimed Toadsworth as they walked into the Inn they had been staying at. He had a rather large scarf wrapped around his neck and half his body, with a cup of hot chocolate in his hands. He sat at a table with none other than Kolorado, whom they had come across in the volcano on Insula.

"Yes, old chap, we were beginning to wonder when you might show up," said Kolorado. He took a sip of the hot chocolate he was drinking. "As you can tell, it's getting a bit nippy, and from what I've been told, this isn't very common around here."

"No," said Jennifer. "It's not. Tempora Town is supposed to be a temperate place, neither too hot or too cold. The balance of all the regions of Tempora."

"Well, it appears I chose the wrong time to go off in search of treasure, then, isn't it?"

"Your wife must be worried sick," said Jennifer.

A look of sudden surprise came across Kolorado's face. "Oh, bollocks, you're absolutely right. I completely forgot...I need to return _now_..."

"Un...fortunately you can't," said Jennifer. "Apparently you entered Tempora around the same time as Mario, when the barrier first opened for 10,000 years. It will remain that way for another 10,000 years."

"Well...that's not good." Kolorado thought for a moment. "I guess that means I'll be adventuring for a bit longer than expected." He didn't seem to distraught over that fact.

"Can returning the golden cogs and restoring the gate reopen the barrier?" asked Toadsworth.

"It's possible," answered Jennifer. "But I can't know for sure."

"There isn't much time left," said Mario.

"Yes, you must make your way towards the final golden cog, post-haste!" said Toadsworth.

"The last golden cog is in Hiembri," said Jennifer. "If it's _this _cold in Tempora Town, it's probably a lot more cold in the winter region, I'd imagine."

"Well, you'd better start getting prepared," said Toadsworth. "I'll hold down the fort here in Tempora Town."

They said their good-byes and returned back to the university.

"We have some suits designed to withstand the cold temperatures of Hiembri," said Jennifer. "They're pretty cozy."

She opened up a closet filled with dark blue parkas of various sizes.

"Now this is a wardrobe I can tolerate," said Violet as she tried on one of the parkas. "It matches me perfectly."

"Is there anything we should know about Hiembri?" asked Antony.

"Well, it's cold," said Jennifer.

"Yeah, anything else that's not extremely obvious?"

"Oh, you know, there's ski resorts, snowy mountain villages, ice caves..."

"Nothing that's inherently dangerous to our well-being?"

"Not that I know of." She paused for a brief moment. "Well...there is one thing. There's this legend about a, um...flying ice dragon that supposedly lives up at the peak of the mountain."

_"Flying ice d-dragon?"_ stammered Luigi.

"It's just a legend," Jennifer reiterated quickly. "Nobody's ever seen it or anything."

"I've got the feeling that's because they didn't return to say they did," added Antony.

Mario had dealt with dragons of different varieties before. Memories of Hooktail, Bonetail, and Gloomtail resurfaced in his mind.

"If there is an ice dragon," said Mario, "then that's where the last golden cog will be hidden."

"Let's hope not," said Violet.

They left the university and made their way back to the Inn for the night. The next morning, they would depart the train station and be on their way to Hiembri.

The giant hand of the Aeturnum Clock ticked by forcefully. Invidus sat in contemplation upon the dark throne directly underneath it. After failing to break through the gate earlier, Invidus wondered what was missing. Peach was chained to the wall on the opposite end of the room, although the chains probably weren't neseccary. She was nearly exhausted from what Invidus had done to her before Vallus had stormed in to save her. She blacked out soon after seeing him transformed into the compass by Invidus. Everything seemed so confusing to her, and now all she wanted to do was drift away and sleep. _I can't give up, _thought Peach. _I have to stay awake and keep trying. Mario will find me_. But it wouldn't do any good to just sit there, Peach knew that. She mustered up all her strength and began to speak.

"..._why_...are you doing this?"

Invidus seemed concentrated and replied in a delayed response. "That is not something you need to know, _princess_." He said the words with disgust.

"Why does it matter if I know? I'm chained to a wall."

Invidus thought for a moment. "Perhaps you have a point." He stood up from his throne. "I _will_ tell you what I am doing, because maybe then you'll understand _why_. I'm not just going to sever the bond between my world and the other because I feel like it, you know."

"It certainly-"

Peach coughed. "...seems that way..."

"You must know by now that I am a bit of a recluse." Invidus was acting very strange, Peach thought. Usually he was so angry, or frightening. "And I wasn't always this way. Let me tell you _my _story – the story nobody wants to hear. It all started many, many years ago. In your world, this would have been countless lifetimes. I had love, once, if that's what you want to call it."

He let out a soft breath through his nose.

"A love that was one-sided, never to be fulfilled, never to be realized, until one fateful day I had a chance. An opportunity that could never come again, you see. This world is very much different from the world you know. Once a bond is created here, it cannot be destroyed. Some bonds are strong, and some are weak. The strong ones have effects on your world, like the seasons. But, that is beside the point. The girl whom I loved was beautiful in every way. More beautiful than anything my imagination could possibly comprehend."

Invidus paused for a moment, then sighed. "But it didn't matter." His voice became louder and sinister now. "Because before I even had a chance, someone else came along and took her from me. I knew in my heart that she was perfect for me."

Peach cleared her throat. "I'm sorr-"

"Silence!"

His voiced boomed throughout the empty corridors of the building. He put his fingers to the bridge of his nose and let out a sharp hiss. "So now you must have figured it out," he said. "Amori was the girl, and Vallus was the dirty little nuisance who took her from me."

"But, why destroy something so...beautiful?"

"Tell me this," said Invidus. "If you are not allowed to enjoy something beautiful, what use is there for it to even exist?"

She thought briefly. "You can appreciate its beauty," said Peach, "and observe how beautiful it is. You don't have to partake in something for it to be meaningful. Sometimes, sitting back and watching from a distance can be more rewarding than you'd expect."

Invidus scoffed. "I wouldn't expect someone of your kind to understand. I've had enough of this pointless banter. Whatever power is holding the gate shut cannot last for long. I can feel its power weakening now even as we speak. It won't be long before I am able to finally rid this world of the painful memories of the past. Soon, the wrongdoings done to me will finally be resolved."


	22. CH 4 Part 1 :: Frigid Village

Chapter Four Part One :: Frigid Village

The next morning, they awoke and departed from the train station towards Hiembri. The looming, snow-capped mountain grew larger and larger as the train made its way through the wintry terrain. Before long, the train was making switchbacks up the base of the mountain, the snow falling thicker and thicker. A small mountain village marked the end of the line, populated almost entirely by penguins.

With a bold step into the frigid air, they stepped off the train and entered the village through a small, frozen entryway. A handful of quaint, wooden cottages laid out in a circle composed the entirety of the town. Icicles as long as people hung off their roofs. In the center of the town was a fire pit surrounded by large logs that had been carved to create wooden benches. A couple of penguin children ran around on top of them, playing.

"Welcome to Frigid Village," said a penguin wearing a scarf and classy tophat. He walked up to them slowly with a welcoming smile on his face.

"I see why that's the name of this town," said Antony.

The penguin let out a small chuckle. "Yes, we get that a lot. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Weston. I am the mayor of this town. What brings you travelers all the way up here?"

Mario stepped forward. "We're looking to find the ice dragon."

The penguin seemed surprised, but quickly regained his composure. "Surely, I hope not! Not one brave adventurer hoping to see Frosttail has ever returned!"

"So it has a name?" asked Jennifer.

"It is rumored that Frosttail can breathe pure ice from its mouth, instantly freezing whoever lies in its path."

Luigi took a slight step backwards. "Well, I'll look around here in the village. Maybe the dragon doesn't have the golden c-"

Mario kicked Luigi in the back of the leg.

"...never mind..."

"Well, come along then," said Mayor Weston. "Let's at least get you some hot chocolate before you're on your way, shall we?"

"I could..._brr_...go for a cup," said Violet, frigidly.

The mayor looked at her. "Yes, I think we'll serve _you_ first..."

He led them into one of the wooden cabins in the town, opening the small door with a creak. A bit of snow fell from the roof when he closed it. After serving up some hot chocolate to everyone, they sat down in the main living room of the cabin. A fire roared on one side and they sat on wooden logs carved as seats.

"So, you're adventurers, is it?" asked Weston.

Mario nodded.

"What is it that you seek?"

Mario hesitated to tell him. They were getting close to finally getting the last golden cog, they couldn't risk anything getting in their way.

"We're looking for the last golden cog," said Antony.

The mayor seemed surprised, but once again quickly regained his composure, adjusting his tophat. "Golden cogs, you say?" He looked up in the air as if he was pondering something. "I can't say I've ever heard of them, are they some sort of treasure?"

Mario answered before anyone else. "Yes," said Mario.

"Well, that's exciting," replied Weston. "I must say I've always fancied a treasure hunt, but my old age has unfortunately made it a rather unlikely possibility. And besides, I could never leave my citizens up here, all alone in the cold."

"That's very noble of you," said Jennifer.

A moment of silence passed.

"Well, I suppose you must be itching to head off, then. I won't delay you any longer."

"Thank you, Mayor Weston," said Luigi.

As they were heading out the door, Weston made one last remark. "Be wary of Frosttail," he said. "If you want to find him, there is an ice cave a little ways up the mountain. You'll know it when you see it. It leads up to the peak. It is there where you will find Frosttail. But before you do go, I must ask, why do you wish to find the ice dragon?"

"The seasons in all of Tempora are changing," explained Jennifer. "It's even snowing in Tempora Town."

Weston seemed to immediately understand. "Yes, that is very unfortunate. I wish you the best of luck in finding the last golden cog."

"Thank you, Weston," said Mario.

"Safe travels!" They left the small cottage and made their way out of the village. Weston closed the door behind them, with a strange grin on his face.

They started walking up a small, snow-covered path up the mountain. The wind started to pick up. Snow fell down like a thick blanket on top of them. The six of them in their parkas trudged along through the snow in a line, ever so slowly making their way up the side of the mountain. Towering high above them was the snow-capped peak, but the clouds obscured the view. After a while of slow progress through the deep snow, they came across the entrance to the ice cave Weston was talking about. The opening must have been at least ten feet high, with every square inch of the walls covered in ice. Inside, large icicles hung down from the ceiling. Luigi couldn't help but worry that at any moment, one of them would come crashing down.

As if on cue to Luigi's thoughts, he fell on the slippery ice that covered the floor of the cave, landing on his rear with a thud. The icicles above jingled from the slight disturbance.

"Uh-oh..." said Thomas unnervingly.

A smaller icicle fell down from the ceiling and landed between Luigi's legs, his face turning white as a ghost.

"Run!"

The smaller icicle set off a chain reaction of more icicles falling down from the ceiling of the cave, and in the frenzy to get out of harms way, they were slipping and sliding in every direction on the icy floor. Up in front of them was a wide chasm, with the edges covered in ice so far that they nearly made a solid bridge between both sides. They ran quickly over the thin ice, except for Luigi who had slipped and fell. Before he could run over the crevice, a large icicle fell down from the ceiling, directly onto the thin ice bridging the gap between both sides of the crevice. Everyone stood on the opposite side with concerned looks on their faces.

"Bro," said Mario, grimly, "you're going to have to jump."

Luigi's eyes widened. "_Jump?_ No way, bro. I'll just find another way-"

Another icicle fell from the ceiling a few feet behind him.

"You can do it, bro, I know you can! You're even a better jumper than _me!_"

There was no other way. _I have to do this_, thought Luigi. He thought about all of the times his brother had saved him before, and countless others. He never seemed to have a problem with leaping straight into danger. Another icicle fell near him. _It's now or never. _Luigi summoned his courage, taking a few steps back to get a running start, and leaped as hard as he could, soaring through the air over the gap. He landed rather ungracefully on the opposite side, but he made it.

After getting to his feet, Luigi looked at Mario. "You're right about me being the better jumper," he said with a smile on his face. Up ahead was a a small opening in the cave wall that got them out of harm's way.

"Whew, that was close," said Violet, looking back from where they came.

"Uh, Violet," said Jennifer. "Turn around..."

A giant ice staircase was directly in front of them, leading directly upwards to the top of the mountain. It was intricately carved with designs of snowflakes.

"Oh, geez don't scare me like that," she responded. "I thought we'd found the dragon or something!"

"Something tells me we'll find it at the top of this staircase," said Antony.

"Well, let's not wait and find out," said Jennifer.

They made their way up the intricate, ice staircase. After a few minutes of tiring climbing, they made it to the top and found exactly what they were looking for.

Curled up in the middle of the dimly lit, icy cavern was the ice dragon, its body breathing heavily and sleepily. Shards of ice pointing backwards covered the skin of its head like scales. It exhaled frozen mist from its nostrils, moving its icy sheet-like wings over its tail. The end of its tail was spiked like a mace, and tossed about in a seemingly random manner, almost like a cat.

Someone took a step backwards, causing a little bit of ice to crack underneath them. The dragon aroused and stared directly at them with its dark, blue eyes.


	23. CH 4 Part 2 :: Frosttail

**Author's Note**: This was a fun chapter to write. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Four Part Two :: Frosttail

The Ice Dragon awoke suddenly, its eyes gleaming in the dim cavern. It took immediate notice of all of them and let out a deafening roar, causing small avalanches of ice to rain down from the walls and ceiling. It surged towards them, leaping into the air like a whip. Before they had hardly any time to react, it shot out a blast of ice and snow from its mouth in front of them, leaving a trail of icy ground where they once stood before leaping out of harm's way. Mario took no time in waiting to use the pocketwatch. He pulled it out immediately after getting back to his feet. They were spread out now, with the dragon in the center of the icy cavern. Mario thought about what ability would work best for the situation. Redonis Pastoris wouldn't be all that helpful – he needed a way to subdue the dragon. There was no way they'd be able to find and retrieve the golden cog without first defeating Frosttail. Visum Postera might help, but Sophos never said Mario would be safe while using it. He would be completely vulnerable while looking into the future. The only option seemed to be Constus Temporus. Mario hesitated before activating the ability – this one was dangerous if he remained in stopped time for too long.

Mario stopped time, quickly evaluating the situation. The ice dragon had its eyes set on Jennifer, so she would need protecting upon exiting Constus Temporus. He would need to distract the dragon as best he could, and then find a way to attack it. Jumping? No, Mario had doubts that jumping on the creature would do any damage. What else did he have in his attack arsenal? Anything that would counteract ice? _Of course_, Mario thought. _Fire._ Antony was beside him and could make the counterattack while Frosttail was distracted. The dragon would then be focused on Antony, however. Mario thought a little more, taking a glance at the pocketwatch and suddenly realized he only had a handful more seconds of time in Constus Tempora. _Well, it's now or never_, thought Mario. _Let's-a-go._

Mario deactivated the pocketwatch and time came crawling back to regular speed. He kept it in his hands, however, for quick acess. He would need to distract the dragon immediately. Frosttail lept towards Jennifer, readying its lungs for another ice blast.

"Hey!" shouted Mario. The dragon turned its gaze away from Jennifer and towards Mario, letting about a cold blast of ice and snow directly at him. Mario quickly reentered Constus Temporus, knowing that he only had a few seconds left on the clock as not enough time had gone by to recharge the ability. He moved a couple of feet over towards the side to avoid the ice blast and deactivated the pocketwatch once again. From everyone else's perspective, Mario was jumping around from spot to spot, nearly instantaneously like a blur of red. The ice blast shattered onto the ground beside him.

Antony caught on to Mario's plan, and pulled out the fire powder, sprinkling some onto his fingers and manifesting a fireball, shooting it towards Frosttail, who had a momentary confused look on its face from Mario's sudden teleportation. The fireball blasted against the dragon's side, causing some of it to melt away. It let out another deafening roar and flew high up into the air away from their reach. Everyone looked up at the dragon in horror and anticipation, wondering what it would do next.

To their dismay, it started raining down shards of ice at them. Mario looked at the pocketwatch again. How could he use it now, with the dragon far above them? He couldn't think of anything. The dragon would simply rain down shards of ice until they were defeated. The only way to defeat the dragon was to use a bigger fire blast. All in one blow, that was how they would have to do it. Mario activated Redonis Pastoris, setting the time so that he would be back after he had used Constus Temporus and dodged the dragon's ice breath. Time slowed down to a standstill, then slowly began accelerating backwards. The dragon flew downwards towards them. Then the fire blast appeared on its side, moving towards Antony's open palm and then disappearing into nothingness. Suddenly, Mario was back to where he was.

"Antony! Use _ALL _of the fire powder!"

Antony stumbled for a moment, grabbing the entire vial of fire powder from his jacket. He looked at the vial, and then the dragon, and threw it as hard as he could.

The vial soared through the air towards Frosttail, hitting him directly on the skull, exploding into a fiery inferno. The dragon let out one final, deafening roar, and collapsed to the ground with an ice-shattering crash. They had defeated Frosttail. The others stood, dazzled and confused, as the fight had only lasted a mere handful of seconds from their perspective. To Mario, it was an arduous and intense battle. He still held the pocketwatch in his hand.

Luigi walked up to him. "Let me guess, bro. You used the pocketwatch?"

Mario smiled and nodded.

"I'm not even going to try and understand what you did," said Jennifer.

"Yeah, me neither," added Violet. "All this time-bending stuff is super-complicated..."

"Yeah, I've always wondered...what happens when you use Redonis Pastoris? Is an entirely different universe created where you create an alternate reality, or is it the same universe...I don't know." Antony shrugged.

"That was nice, quick thinking back there, Antony," said Mario.

"Thanks," he replied.

Thomas floated over towards them. They stood around the collapsed body of Frosttail. "I wish I could have been helpful for something."

"You will," said Violet. "and you already have."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Violet."

"Anyways," said Jennifer. "So where the heck is the last golden cog? I don't see anything here that would suggest its around."

"Did Weston say anything about the golden cogs?" asked Luigi.

"No," replied Jennifer. "He said he had never heard of them."

"Hmm," said Antony. "Well, we sort of just assumed the golden cog would be near the ice dragon. It _does _make sense."

"True," said Jennifer "What do you think Mario? You're the master adventurer."

Mario thought for a moment. If he had to guess where the next cog would be, he would guess it would have been with the dragon. Suddenly, he realized that they had a tool just for finding the golden cogs and smacked his face with his fand.

"We can use the silver compass," said Mario.

"...oh yeah, my bad," replied Jennifer, blushing. She pulled out the compass. The needle pointed to where they had come from, so they followed it back, retracing their steps. It led them back outside of the cave opening and back to the side of the mountain, where flurries of snow obstructed their view of t heir surroundings.

"It looks like its pointing right back at the village..." said Jennifer, with a confused look on her face.

"Let's keep going," said Mario. "I've got a bad feeling about something."

They made their way back down the side of the mountain and to Frigid Village, but they were greeted with a sight they weren't expecting.

"It's empty," said Jennifer. "There's nobody around."

"No," said Mario. "There's one person still here."


	24. CH 4 Part 3 :: Weston

Chapter Four Part Three :: Weston

They walked into the silent, empty village. A cold breeze meandered its way between the wooden cottages and through the center. There was nobody to be seen.

"I don't understand," said Jennifer. "What happened? Where are all of the penguins?"

"Let's go see if the mayor is still here," said Luigi. They walked up the steps to the mayor's front porch and knocked on the door.

"Hello?" said Jennifer.

There was no reply.

Mario walked inside, creaking the door open as he entered the main living room. The fire still roared in the back, sending a gush of warm, welcoming air towards them. The mayor was nowhere to be found. They all stood on an ornate rug in the center of the living room.

"The compass is going crazy," said Jennifer. The needle wasn't pointing in any particular direction, just flipping around wildly in every direction.

"Then that must mean the golden cog is right here...?" said Violet, questionably.

Suddenly, the sound of some sort of unlocking mechanism came from underneath their feet.

"Uh, oh..."

The rug beneath them gave way, causing them to tumble helplessly into a chute underneath the floorboards. Suddenly they found themselves in a dimly lit, icy cellar beneath the Mayor's house.

"Man, what is it with all these dark, scary places we always seem to find ourselves in?" said Antony. The walls were rocky and smooth, with one of the walls having a small opening in the center, but metal bars blocked it.

"I don't see any way to get out of here..." said Thomas.

A mysterious voice emanated from the opening in the wall. "And you won't be getting out any time soon," said the voice. On the other side of the prison bars, the face of the mayor greeted them with a serious and menacing look.

"Weston! What do you think you're doing?" said Jennifer, angrily.

"Yeah," said Antony. "We have to gather all of the golden cogs to _save the world! _You know, being heroes and all?" He took on a fierce sarcastic tone.

"And what about the world needs saving?" said Weston, rhetorically. "I'm more than happy to have a world of eternal cold and snow. We penguins do just fine with it, thank you."

"But everyone else will f-freeze," said Luigi, shivering a little bit in the cold cell.

"Then so be it," said Weston coldly. "I'm tired of living up here on top of this bleak mountaintop, being bored out of my mind."

"What about the rest of the villagers?" said Jennifer. "What do _they_ think about this?"

"The _other villagers_? They wouldn't know real life if it hit them square in the face. They've lived their entire lives up here."

"What do you expect to accomplish by all of this?"

"All _we _have to do is wait out up here until the eternal winter fully arrives for good. Then we can go anywhere and doing anything to our liking."

"You're _sick_," said Jennifer.

"And you're entitled to an opinion," replied the Mayor, smirking. "Good luck trying to get out of there."

The Mayor left the barred window, leaving them alone in the dark, cold cell.

"This is ridiculous, I can't believe...ugh..this is just-"

"Jennifer," said Mario. "We'll be alright." He pulled out the pocketwatch, smiling.

"Oh, yeah. What are you going to do?"

"Go back and fix our mistake," he said. He activated Redonis Pastoris, setting the time to just before they entered the house of Mayor Weston. From Mario's perspective, the dialogue between them and Mayor Weston went quickly through reverse. Then he saw them falling up through the trapdoor, like he was outside his own body. Then they were in the center of his cottage, walking backwards through the door, and then they were outside in the center of the village. Time went into a standstill, and then he was back to normal time.

Mario stopped walking, and everybody else looked at him. After a few moments of nothing, Luigi broke the silence. "...Redonis Pastoris?"

Mario nodded nonchalantly. "The Mayor is going to try to trap us in his cellar beneath the floorboards of his cottage. Jennifer, where is the compass pointing to?"

"Towards the Mayor's house."

"Okay, let's go in, but stay behind me."

Mario walked into the Mayor's house, silently gesturing to everyone to remain quiet. He searched around for some sort of secret entrance to the underground area beneath the Mayors cottage. Silently, he walked over towards the fireplace that was seemingly burning endlessly. Upon closer inspection, the logs beneath it weren't even burning. Mario waved his hand through the fire to test it, and nearly burned his hand. He muttered silently under his breath. The fire was most definitely real. Mario thought for a moment. "Thomas," he whispered, "can you phase through the fire?"

"Sure, I guess," replied Thomas. He floated over towards the fire and became transparent, floating through the fire. A few moments passed, and then the fire stopped, revealing a hidden passage with Thomas at the other end.

"Nothing more classy than a secret fireplace entrance," said Antony.

"Shh!" shushed Jennifer.

"Sorry," he said silently. They went through the entrance one by one and came out to the other side where a spiral staircase went downwards. Mario went first.

At the bottom was a warmly lit room with a cushy chair and bookshelves stocked full of books. Mario coughed, on purpose. Suddenly, the char turned around to reveal a very surprised Weston.

"What are you doing here?" he exclaimed. He calmed himself. "I mean...how did you, um...Did you find the golden cog?"

"No," said Jennifer. She looked at the compass. It was pointing directly at Weston. "Hand it over."

Weston gave up the act. "Alright, I see how things are now. You've caught me red-flippered."

A surprising voice came from behind them. "Really? _Red-flippered?_Tell me you didn't just say that, old chap"

Christopher came down the stairs behind them, and a look of astonishment remained on everyone's face as he did so. "The name's Chris T., or Christopher for short! I am the Great Toad Detective, and yet another mystery has been solved!"

"What _mystery?_" asked Antony.

"What _mystery_," repeated Christopher, "What _mystery? _The mystery of the missing grandfather clock, that's what mystery! This old cad thought he could get away with it, but nobody outwits The Great Toad Detective! I've been on this mystery for a solid _two weeks_ up here in the bitter cold, and-"

"Two weeks?" said Jennifer. "How in the world did it take you two weeks? There's only, what, a handful of houses in this village?"

"Well, you don't know the _process," _said Christopher defensively. "You see..."

Luigi coughed loudly. "Ahem, it appears that the perpetrator is no longer here."

Weston was no longer to be seen.

"Quick! After him!" said Antony. They rushed towards the other side of the room and into a tight hallway. At the end was Weston, attempting to squeeze through the bars into the chamber they were in before. Mario walked up to him and pulled him out of the opening.

"Fine, take it," said Weston, pulling out the golden cog from his pocket and handing it to Mario.

Christopher seemed perturbed. "But I—I solved the case, shouldn't I receive the golden cog to return to its rightful owner?"

"Who is the rightful owner?" asked Antony.

"Oh, some elderly penguin a couple houses down the street."

"Let's go take it to him," said Mario.

They made their way to the other cottage, and were talking to the old, elderly penguin.

"So that's why we need the golden cog," said Jennifer, explaining their story to him. The grandfather clock in the corner of the room sat in silence, with an obvious vacant spot where the golden cog would fit neatly in place.

"I do suppose I could part with it," replied the old penguin. "But you have to promise me one thing."

"Sure, anything" said Jennifer.

"Promise me this." He looked at Mario. "In times of great power, sometimes the obvious choice isn't the correct one. Promise me that when you are faced with a great decision, even one that holds great value only to a single individual, that you will make the right choice."

Mario thought about this for a moment. "I will," he replied, as stoic as possible.

"Then you may keep the golden cog. I wish you the best of journeys, and may you be blessed with wisdom and luck in the future."

They left the warm cottage with golden cog in hand, admiring the great view of the vast open skies expanding over the horizon. Mario pondered what the old penguin said again, wondering what significance it could have meant. Only time would tell.


	25. Interlude 4

**Author's Note : **This is it, the last interlude before the final chapter(s) of this story! This one's a little short and sweet, but I think you'll like it.

Interlude Four : The Lull Before The Storm

Upon arriving back in Tempora Town, Mario and company in tow made quick haste towards the Town Hall and the gateway to Contineous. There simply was no time, and the weather had become even colder. Nobody was outside, except for a few brave souls who had work to do. They were bundled up with scarves and jackets, shuffling frigidly about in the cold. They walked into the town hall and were in front of the giant clock face. Mario pulled out the pocket-watch once again, causing the giant clock face in front of them to become like liquid. He stepped in to Contineous, followed by everyone else.

Their footsteps echoed in the ethereal realm without the familiar call from Sophos to welcome them. The other three cogs turned in unison at the end of the room. Mario took the last remaining cog out from his pocket and got ready to put it into place.

"Wait!" exclaimed Jennifer. Everyone jumped from the sudden outburst in the echoic chamber.

"Well? What is it?" inquired Antony.

"Mario, you should use Visum Postera before we go through the gate to Silentium Amoris. There's no telling what might happen."

Mario thought about the incident in which Invidus destroyed the gate, as well as all of his friends, at least before he wound back time with the pocket-watch.

"Yes," he replied, putting the cog back into his pocket and taking out the pocket-watch. He turned the outer rim clockwise and closed his eyes, as per Sophos' instructions. Suddenly, light filled his vision, with bright clouds rushing past him from all directions. He felt like he was speeding through a tunnel, and he was accelerating faster and faster. The light turned gradually to dark, until it was all that was in his vision. He opened his eyes, thinking that the ability had failed, but he was wrong. All around him was a dark, scarred landscape. Lightning flashed incessantly from all around him, illuminating his immediate surroundings. The trees were blood red, their leaves being thrashed about by the high-speed winds slicing through the air. Torrents of gushing water flooded through the land all around him, streaming through the hilly landscape like a river of tears. Mario looked up into the sky, seeing the moon through a small opening in the dark blue storm clouds tumbling above the landscape. Its light shown down on a small area at the top of a hill. Mario moved up towards it, feeling as though he was watching himself and had no control over his actions. He fumbled strenuously through the foliage upwards towards the top of the hill and upon reaching it, he saw Invidus, bathed in the moonlight that shown down upon him. His pale, blue eyes looked sorrowful and distraught, with nothing else visible except for his pitch black cloak. He stood in front of a stone altar with tears running down from his eyes. He struggled to say just a few words.

"What have I done..."

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Don't speak, my love, for I am here now"_

_"__I—I don't know what to say"_

_"__There naught be anything you need to say. Nor I."_

_"__I just feel so sorry for that man. He seemed so sincere and nice, but-"_

_"__I know. I know. It must be tiring being so beautiful. A bittersweet curse that only you bear"_

_"__No, it's not that. It's just...I...I just can't decide!"_

_"__What do you mean? Surely you can't mean-"_

_"__I...I don't know what I'm saying. I am so confused"_

_"__Be confused no longer, for I am your love! I am your other half. We complete each other, Amori!"_

_"__The bond between us hasn't yet been sealed, Vallus. I do love you. I really do. But I feel as though my heart is being pulled in two directions, and I don't know what to do!"_

_"__Your kindheartedness, although good, also blinds you from reaching your true happiness. I hadn't realized you were so distraught with this. I'm sorry for any suffering that I have caused you, my love"_

_"__I...I just hope I haven't caused too much suffering already"_


	26. Finale Part 1

Finale Part One : Broken Heart

"Mario?" called out Jennifer in a slightly concerned voice. Mario lay on the glossy floor of Contineous, unmoving but still breathing.

"Bro, wake up!" said Luigi. Mario lifted his heavy eyelids, blinking as he stumbled to his feet.

"What happened?"

Mario went over the vision again in his head. He saw the horrific landscape again, the rain pelting down from every direction by the flurry of winds. He remembered seeing Invidus standing atop the hill behind the stone altar, with his body bathed in the moonlight. Mario explained everything about the vision to everyone, sparing no details. It felt so vivid and real.

"Why was he behind an altar?" questioned Jennifer.

"What kind of altar?" said Antony. "Like, a wedding altar?"

Mario nodded his head sideways. He didn't know.

"Sophos said the visions you see using Visum Postera are not set in stone," said Jennifer. "Something tells me that vision is not what we want to happen."

Violet stepped forward. "You said...Invidus looked...sad?"

"Why would he feel that way?" said Thomas.

"Why should we be concerned about his _feelings_?" said Antony. "He's scum. Anything bad that happens to him, he deserves every bit of it."

"That's true...I guess..."

"Mario," said Jennifer. "What do you think? Should we go through the gate into Silentium Amoris?"

Mario stood and thought for a moment. They didn't have any time left to spare and think about things. The world was getting colder and colder by the day, and time was running out. It was now or never. He nodded.

"Alright," said Antony. "The last golden cog. Here we go."

Mario pulled out the last golden cog and placed it in position. It's teeth meshed perfectly with the other three cogs surrounding it, and began to tick with the rest of them. Suddenly, the gate before them lit up with a great flash of light. The center of the gate began to swirl, gradually picking up more speed, until the edges were spinning extremely fast. The view of the gate became three-dimensional, and inside they could see a beautiful landscape with sprawling hills bathed in the soft light from the sun shining above. A large, well spread out town populated with a multitude of beautifully architectured buildings covered a large portion of the landscape, with a tall tower in the center.

Everyone stood in front of the gate in a straight line.

"Time to show this guy who's boss," said Antony.

"I hope nothing horrible happens..." said Violet.

"You and me both," said Thomas.

"Mario, before we go in, I just want you to know I'm thankful for the adventure you've given me," said Jennifer.

"Ready, bro?" said Luigi. "This is it. You sure you're ready?"

Mario shrugged undecidedly.

"Well, ready or not, you know I've got your back."

They stepped into the gate, bathed temporarily in the ethereal light before disappearing entirely.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Contridus, there's something we need to talk about?"_

_"__Yes, my love?"_

_"__It's about...well...us"_

_"__What about us?"_

_"__I...I don't know how to say this, but there's no way I can think of to say it without it being-"_

_"__Amori, what is it?"_

_"__Well, things just aren't working out. I really care for you, but there's...someone else"_

_"__..."_

_"__I know how it sounds, but...well you know how these things go in our world."_

_"__What? How_ are they _supposed_ to go?"

"_You know what I mean. You know that we are meant to make bonds with each other. Bonds that are strong. Some so strong that they have great effects on the other world. Without these bonds, the other world would surely cease to exist"_

_"__The other world?Why is the other world more important than our love for each other? I thought you loved me, Amori. Or do you mean to tell me that my love goes unrequited?"_

_"__Well, it's just that, my love for him is-"_

_"__Stop. Don't say any more, for my sake. I see how things are. Fine. If it's him you want, then who am I to stop you from following your heart?"_

_"__Please, don't do this. I wish there were some way, but this is just how things are. If I could change the way I feel, I would, but I can't. Contridus, please-"_

_"__Don't call me Contridus! Contridus was the man whom you once loved, and since you no longer love him, he shall no longer exist."_

_"__Contridus..."_

_"__Call me INVIDUS! To represent my jealousy for the affection of your love, that's what my name shall henceforth be for the rest of all eternity!_

_"__Please-"_

_"__Leave me! Get out! You've done enough, and that is the most I can bear!"_

_"__...I'm sorry..."_

_"__I will never forgive you"_


	27. Finale Part 2

Finale Part Two :: Battle Through The Seasons

Moments after entering through the gate to Silentium Amoris. They found themselves in a dimly lit, cold and glossy corridor. It was just like Tempora Hall back in the other world, but still in pristine condition. A shiny black pedestal was in front of the giant clock face they had just entered through, and black lily flowers adorned its sides. Lanterns placed on every other column down the aisle guided their path to the entrance of the building. Upon opening the entrance door, the blinding light of the outside shown brightly in their faces.

"Where's this light coming from?" said Antony, looking up into the sky. "There's no sun!"

"That's weird..." said Violet.

"Well," said Jennifer. "This is an entirely different realm from the one we know. I'd be willing to bet there are plenty of other surprises as well." She looked towards Mario. "Mario, what do we do now?"

Mario shrugged his shoulders.

"What's that big tower off in the distance?" said Thomas as he gestured in that direction.

"Seems like as good a bet as any," replied Jennifer.

They made their way down the cobblestone streets of Silentium Amoris, enjoying the beautiful architecture of the buildings along the way. The town they were in was somewhat similar to Tempora Town, but not entirely. None of the buildings were the same, except Tempora Hall. A few minutes of walking went by.

"Hey..." said Antony. "Anybody notice that there are no people around?"

"Yeah, that's kind of weird..." said Jennifer. "I'm a bit surprised we haven't seen anyone or...anything."

"At least the weather here is alright," said Luigi.

"Yeah, that's true," said Jennifer. "...wait. Both worlds were supposed to fall into chaos in the prophesy. Why is this one doing just fine?'

"Tell that to the missing townspeople," said Antony.

"Oh, yeah."

They made their way up to the tower. It was away from the central area of town, secluded from any neighboring buildings. A stone wall surrounded its base, with its foundation resting on a tall hill, reaching high up to the endless blue skies. A small path meandered its way up to a gate in the wall surrounding the tower. However, as they made their way up the steep path, the sky began to grow darker and darker.

"I don't like what's going on..." said Luigi, looking fearfully upwards at the quickly darkening blue sky.

They arrived at the gate, and it was nighttime. Mario pushed the door of the gate, and it surprisingly opened slowly with a great creaking noise. Luigi's skin was as pale as a ghost. They walked up the remainder of the path and to the door of the tower. Mario opened it.

"Greetings, fulfillers of the great prophesy," said a ghastly voice.

"Invidus," said Jennifer.

"Yes," replied Invidus. His voice appeared to be coming from everywhere around them. He himself was nowhere to be seen. Inside of the tower was the room of the Aeturnum Clock. The shadows of its hands were cast down from the twinkling stars of the nighttime sky above. In the center of the circular room was the throne of darkness, and each quadrant representing the four seasons surrounding it.

"Show yourself!" shouted Antony angrily.

"All in due time, all in due time," he replied. Mario began to wonder where Peach was in all of this. He expected to find her trapped in a prison cell, or hidden somewhere secret. Now he wondered if she was here at all, or if he would ever see her again.

Invidus continued speaking. "Before I deal with you for the last time, I want you to know the suffering that I have been through-"

"Where is Princess Peach!" said Violet.

"Oh, that little thing? Oh, she still is of use to me. You see, you must be familiar by now with the great power that comes with being of pure heart. Alas, that is not something I posses...well, did posses."

"You're not saying..."

"Try to kill me, and you'll be killing your precious princess peach as well."

The shadows of the Aeturnum Clock began to gravitate towards the throne of darkness, and Invidus appeared from out of them, sitting peacefully. His black cloak draped over the sides.

"Do you still think you have any chance of stopping me from finishing my plans?"

Mario had enough of this. He ran towards Invidus at full speed, sprinting down the brief hallway into the main room. Invidus simply sat there, watching him. At the last moment before Mario would have hit him, he disappeared, leaving a black, swirling portal in his place.

"Quick, follow him!" shouted Jennifer as they ran to catch up with Mario. He jumped in the portal followed by everyone else. They came out on the other side and were immediately met with a torrential downpour of rain, pelting their skin forcefully. It was dark and stormy. Lightning arced from the sky to the ground from all around them. They were in a grassy plain, and there was nothing to shelter them from the barrage of lightning not only from the thunderstorm, but Invidus as well.

"Hope you like Spring!" he shouted from above them, summoning a ball of lightning with his arms above his head. He tosses the ball down towards them as they desperately hurled themselves away from it.

Invidus was getting ready to use another lightning attack, this time focused directly at Mario. He pulled out the pocketwatch as quickly as possible, knowing there was no way he could dodge it this time. Using Constus Temporus, Mario stopped time just before the arc of lightning could strike him and he moved out of the way.

"I see you know how to use that pocket-watch," said Invidus from above him. "You're not the only one she's been with, you know. I wouldn't get attached to it. You never know when she might decide to betray you!"

He sent out several more attacks directed at Mario, who used Constus Temporus for every one. By the end of the last one, he had no more remaining power to continue using it, or he would risk becoming stuck in Constus Temporus forever.

He sent out another barrage of quick lightning attacks at everybody else who scrambled to dodge them. Invidus summoned another attack, this time becoming a shadow once again and disappearing into the ground.

"I...huff...I can't see him!' said Antony, looking frantically around for Invidus, knowing another attack was imminent.

"I can!" yelled Thomas, who had become transparent and went under the ground.

"Great, but how do we attack a shadow?" said Antony.

"With light! Antony, use a light potion!"

"Right under me," said Thomas.

Antony threw a vial of one of the last of his light potions directly under Thomas, hitting the shadow that was Invidus. He appeared briefly for a moment, and then another portal appeared.

"Next portal, now!" said Jennifer. They jumped blindly into it. This time they appeared in an arid desert, surrounded by sand and cacti.

"Enjoying the nice summer breeze?" said Invidus from behind them. He raised up his arms, creating a wall of swirling sand that he thrust forwards towards them, knocking them all to the ground. Mario quickly got up and jumped towards Invidus, landing a hit on top of his head, but Invidus grabbed him by the leg as he attempted to land and tossed him sideways sending him tumbling into the sand. Invidus raised his arms again for an attack, but was stopped suddenly.

"Watch out, bro!" called Luigi who jumped on Invidus' head directly after Mario, landing a solid hit.

"Glad you've got my back, bro!" replied Mario.

"Isn't this nice," said Invidus. "Well, it won't last too long." He rose up into the air once again, with his arms outstretched outwards. Sand spiraled around him and up into the air, forming a giant sphere of sand above him. "Because you're about to be buried alive."

"Not true!" shouted Antony as he threw a fireball at the mass of sand above Invidus. As the fire hit the sand, it exploded and caused the sand to rain down as sharp shards of glass.

"Arrghh!" yelled Invidus as the glass rained down over him. He disappeared once again, leaving another portal for them to follow in close pursuit. Upon enterting the next portal, they found themselves in a setting similar to the Autumn Forest. It was nearly pitch black, with the thick undergrowth of weeds and other plant life. Ear-shattering winds sliced through the air from all around them, with a tumult of blood red leaves in close pursuit.

"So do you understand the pattern yet?" asked Invidus from an unknown location.

Nobody glorified him with an answer. It was obviously Fall now, and they were visiting the four seasons in rapid succession. Except every season was greatly and horribly exaggerated.

"Don't know? You're even more stupid than I thought. Have fun in the dark!"

They stood together in the nearly pitch black portion of the forest. The winds came from all different directions, and they were unable to see hardly anything. Luigi was hyperventilating.

"Hey, it's okay," said Violet to Luigi.

"I-I don't do well with dark..."

"What's there to be scared of? You have four other senses that still work just fine."

"...yeah, I guess...I guess that's true."

"Come on," said Jennifer. "Let's find that portal."

They fumbled their way through the darkness for a while, as Antony had no more remaining potions. Luigi seemed more at peace, now, and after a while they found the next portal. Upon entering it, they emerged near the peak of a massive mountaintop. There were a few sleds near them for whatever reason.

"Time for a little fun!" said Invidus from behind and above them at the top of the mountain. He slammed his arms into the snow, causing it to crack and crumble, starting an avalanche heading straight their way.

"Go go go!" said Antony, jumping onto one of the three sleds. Jennifer jumped on it with him, with Violet and Thomas on another and Mario and Luigi on the last one. They blazed down the mountainside as quickly as possible to avoid the avalanche directly behind them. Invidus floated down behind them with the avalanche. Mario tried to think of anything he could do to get out of this situation using the pocket-watch, but nothing came to mind. He had used nearly all of its power dodging Invidus' lighting attacks, and only had a little bit left. It was better for him to save it. They bulleted down the slopes, dodging trees and logs with the avalanche of snow creeping steadily behind them. Suddenly, they were rapidly approaching a vast crevice. Jennifer and Antony jumped over it in the sled, barely making it to safety on the other side, followed by Violet and Thomas. Mario and Luigi, however, were not going fast enough to be able to make the jump.

"Bro, I d-don't think w-we can m-make that j-jump!" stammered Luigi as the sled bumped up and down mercilessly. The sled hit the jump, flying through the air over the crevice, but began to fall short before they could reach the other side.

"Nooo!" yelled Jennifer from the other side. Mario had pulled out the pocket-watch, and entered Constus Temporus in mid-air. The sled was suspended over the crevice. He looked briefly down into it, and then realized he only had a few moments before time would run out and he'd be stuck in Constus Temporus forever. Mario grabbed Luigi and jumped with all of his might from the suspended sled towards the other side of the crevice, landing roughly in the snow. He exited from Constus Temporus with only seconds to spare.

"Ugh, you just never give up, do you?" said Invidus.

"Get over here you little creep!" said Jennifer as she ran towards him. Antony stopped her before she continued. Invidus once again went through a portal.

"That guy is really starting to get on my nerves," said Jennifer.

"Let's go," said Mario. He sensed that Invidus was nearing the end of his rope. They went through the portal one last time, and ended up back where they started, under the Aeturnum Clock.

Invidus was waiting for them with a trap.


	28. Finale Part 3

Finale Part Three :: A Dreadful Fate

They should have seen it coming. Going through the portal blindly was asking to be trapped. But what else could they do? However, Mario had entered the portal first and somehow managed to escape the barrier that invidus had summoned over the rest as they funneled through the portal. The Aeturnum Clock ticked by in the brief lull of silence as they realized what had happened.

Invidus cackled. "It looks like you're stuck. Looks like it's just me versus the red plumber now." Invidus adjusted his gaze towards Mario. His blue eyes gleamed as they looked directly at him. Mario ran towards Invidus once again with all of his strength. I have to defeat him, thought Mario. If I don't, everyone I care about will be lost forever. Mario thought once again about when Invidus succeeded in killing them, while Mario watched in horror. He remembered again how, without the aid of the pocket-watch and its ability to roll back time, there would have been nothing he could have done. The pocket-watch, thought Mario. He wondered if there was still enough power left to use Redonis Pastoris. He was preparing now, to jump up into the air towards Invidus. I can't defeat him. Mario knew it in his heart, that there was nothing he could do to defeat Invidus. He sprinted at full speed and prepared to jump. Not on his own. He pulled out the pocketwatch as quickly as possible and activated Redonis Pastoris in mid-jump.

The world around him stopped to a grinding halt. Invidus stood motionless with his arms up to cast another lightning bolt. That would have hit me, thought Mario. Everything started going back in reverse. He saw himself landing back on the ground and sprinting backwards. He saw Invidus placing the barrier around everybody else. He saw himself and the others funneling backwards through the portal. They were back in the wintry region once again. They stood at the other end of the crevice they had just jumped over, with Invidus nearby.

"Get over here you little creep!" said Jennifer as she ran towards Invidus, who then went into the portal. "That guy is really starting to get on my nerves."

There was a brief silence. The last time this happened, Mario told everyone to go into the portal. This time, they needed a plan.

"Wait," said Mario. "Don't go into the portal. Invidus is going to try to trap us."

"How?" said Jennifer.

"He is going to place a barrier around the portal as soon as we go through it. We need a plan before going in."

"How were you able to escape the trap?"

"I went in first," he replied. "I'll go first again, but I'm giving the pocket-watch to you, bro."

Mario looked at Luigi. "What? Me? Why?"

"Invidus expects Mario to have it," said Jennifer. "That's brilliant, Mario!"

"O-Okay then. What do I do?"

Mario thought again for a moment. Jennifer spoke up. "I think I have an idea. Mario, you go in first just like before. We'll all be trapped, but Luigi will have the pocket-watch, then-"

"But does the pocket-watch have any juice left?" interjected Antony.

"Does it, Mario?"

"Mario looked at the pocket-watch. There was nothing left. He had used it too much. He looked down and nodded a no.

"Well, um...I'm not sure what we can do then."

"That's it, then," said Violet. "There's nothing we can do."

"...there might be something," said Jennifer. "What if...Mario uses Constus Temporus again, and lets the time run out?"

Mario was slightly shocked.

"He'll be stuck there forever!" said Luigi.

"Well...that's what happened to Amori, right? Maybe if he does, then...I don't know I'm just trying to think of something!"

Mario was deep in thought. There was nothing else they could do, and that was their only shot.

"Let's go then," said Mario, he clutched the pocket-watch tightly in his hand.

"Bro..."

"It's okay, bro. I'll be alright."

Luigi gave him a concerned look. Mario looked back briefly.

"Let's-a go," Mario said half-optimistically, and jumped into the portal followed by everybody else.

Invidus sprung the trap as soon as they had entered, since they had taken so long to follow him through the portal.

"Looks like you're stuck," said Invidus. He cackled in delight. Mario spared no time, and pulled out the pocket-watch, entering Constus Temporus. There were only a few seconds on the clock. He stood there, watching those few precious seconds tick by. Three. Two. One.

Nothing. Time was still frozen, but the colors of the world around him shifted to greyscale. Everything was black and white, and he was unable to move his body. Oh, no, thought Mario. This was it. Time would be stuck at this moment for all eternity, with nothing but his own thoughts to comfort him. But there was more. He could feel something. Something inside of him, and all around him. The feeling welled up inside him and felt as though it was growing rapidly. It was a feeling of intense goodness and warmth. Something was happening. The world gradually regained its color, and he slowly regained the ability to move his body. He didn't know what was going on, but he started walking towards Invidus, hardly even noticing that he had gone straight through the barrier. He began to jog. Then sprint. He looked down at his hand, which was still clutching the pocket-watch. It glowed with an intense light. He briefly noticed the intricate drawings on the floor beneath the Aeturnum Clock. There was a sun and moon underneath the area where Invidus' dark throne sat in the middle of the room. Mario heard a voice.

Mario. We are both within the pocket-watch. My magic is weak now, but your display of a pure heart is what is currently powering it. You must leave now, or you will truly be trapped forever.

Mario immediately exited Constus Temporus. He was mere feet from Invidus now. Invidus jumped back as Mario suddenly appeared in his vision.

"What are you—I thought the power – her power – had run out?" said Invidus in complete confusion. The barrier blocking the rest of them faded away.

Mario spared no time. The pocket-watch still glowed furiously. He raised it up towards Invidus, and two beams of light shot out from it in opposite directions, bending around every which way all around the room until they pierced straight through Invidus.

"Arghhh!" he cried out in pain. A great burst of light exploded all around him, and suddenly Invidus and Peach were both laying on the ground in front of them.

"Princess!" yelled Luigi as they ran towards the center of the room.

"What in the world just happened!" said Antony.

Mario went up to Peach and helped her up.

"...Mario?"

Mario nodded.

"Mario!" yelled Peach gleefully, hugging him in the process.

"What ability was that?" said Jennifer.

For some reason, Mario knew exactly what ability he had used. "Animus Transferus," he replied, still shocked that he knew the name as well. "It transfers or separates souls."

"Could that be used to...!...Mario, use the ability on the compass!' Jennifer pulled out the compass. Mario held out the pocket-watch once again and used Animus Transferus. The beams of light went into the compass, and when the process was complete, Vallus stood among them in the palace of the Aeturnum Clock.

"...what's going on? Where is Amori?" he said, half dazed.

Mario looked at the pocket-watch. He remembered how useful it had been to them. How important it was. He held it up high above himself, and used Animus Transferus one last time. The pocket-watch glowed intensely for a brief moment, then exploded into light, with Amori taking its place.

"Amori!" yelled Vallus as he ran to hold her in his arms.

"Vallus, my love!" He grabbed her by the arms and spun her around.

"It has been too long"

"At last, we are together again..."

"Don't...*cough*...celebrate yet..." said Invidus in a raspy voice. He raised up his arms, causing a great bolt of lighting to crash downwards right through the center of the room. The floor split in two, separating the sun and moon in the drawing beneath the throne of darkness. He then summoned another spell, and cast it on the rift between the sun and moon.

"Now I will be bonded with the beautiful Amori," he said disgustingly.

Invidus struck Vallus with another bolt of lightning. Vallus let out a great cry of pain and collapsed to the floor.. Invidus laughed maniacally.

Vallus spoke his last words. "The bond...has become...toxic...you must..."

Vallus fell to the ground and breathed his last breath.

Invidus cackled once more. "Looks like that's it! With Vallus out of the picture, the seasons will cease to cycle any longer!"

The tower around them suddenly began to crumble away, with bricks and rocks tumbling down all around them.

"What?" said Invidus. "What is going on? Why is the perfect world being affected?"

"Held together by the bonds of their love, our world is intricately connected to theirs. Without them, the seasons would end and our world and theirs would be sent into chaos." said Jennifer. "One cannot live without the other."

"But I am here!" boomed Invidus. "I changed the bond! This world should still be FINE!"

Invidus looked around nervously. The skies were red, the stars no longer visible. The tower was crumbling away all around them, and the walls were now completely gone. A thunderstorm erupted, with flashes of lighting crashing all around them. Icy torrents of water flooded the area, and winds ripped through the air. All of the seasons were happening at once.

"No..." said Invidus. "I...I thought that...if I completed the bond..."

"You were never meant to complete the bond," said Amori.

"But, why? What about me wasn't good enough!" his voice boomed as the weather around them became more and more turbulent.

"...I'm sorry, Invidus," said Amori. "Both of these worlds will cease to exist if this bond between us remains for much longer. Goodbye."

Amori raised up her arms, creating a pitch black ball of shadow above herself.

"..Amori...NO!" yelled Invidus. "Don't end your life!'

"It's for the better good," she replied, and released the magic from her grasp. The ball of shadow burst into every direction above her, sending tendrils of blackness in every direction. The tendrils moved quickly back towards Amori.

"No! I can't let you do this!" said Invidus as he jumped in front of Amori to intercept the tendrils of darkness from entering her. "ARGHHH!" he cried as they pierced through his body all at once. His body became shadow, and slowly faded away into nothingness.

Everybody became silent, and the skies returned to normal. The clouds of the thunderstorm disappeared, and the winds died down to a standstill. Invidus was dead. Vallus slowly regained consciousness and came back to his feet and walked towards Amori.

"Amori, my dearest Amori. Thank goodness you are still alive."

"You have Invidus to thank for that," she said, half uncertain of her own words.

"Thank you, heroes," said Amori, gesturing to all of them. "Without you, both of our worlds would cease to exist. Your love and your hearts are what gave you the power to vanquish evil."

Jennifer looked to Antony. "So Antony, remember that secret project you said you were working on before you ended up in all this mess?"

"Yeah, the one about the butterfly effect? What about it?"

"What does it say about love?"

"Love is, in itself, unpredictable. You can never know when, or how, it will happen."

Jennifer jumped up and kissed him on the cheek. "Like that?"

"...yeah, that's pretty spot on," he replied with a smile.

Violet did the same to Thomas, who became transparent out of embarrassment.

Mario held Peach's arms. "It's-a nice to know I've still got-a you," he said.

"Oh, Mario, replied Peach, and then kissed him on the nose.

Luigi stood by himself a little behind everybody. "Nice to see everybody's got-a love but me," he said. Peach went over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he blushed.

"Everybody but Invidus," said Amori rather grimly. "I can't help but feel that...this was all my fault to begin with." She stopped for a moment in deep contemplation. "But...it was just how things had to be. I'll always remember him, and what he did for me – for us – in his last moments. He redeemed himself in saving me, and I'll never forget that. To me, I'll always remember him not as Invidus, but rather, Redemnus. The Great Redeemed."

_**PAPER MARIO : THE DANCE OF SEASONS**_


	29. Epilogue Final Thoughts

Epilogue

Mario and company gave one last goodbye to Vallus and Amori in Silentium Amoris. After the final battle, the people had finally returned to the town and could once again live in peace. They entered through the gate in Tempora Hall, and emerged on the other side in Tempora Town, only to be surprised by half the town, including Toadsworth, Kolorado, Merlee, the penguins from the mountain, Merlee, Bella the queen of beauty, Oliver McCormick, who had been briefly let out of jail for the special occasion, Chris T. the great Toad Detective, the Boos from the Autumn Forest, Maurice and Moe from Verion, some random shy guys from Insula, and a whole lot of other characters that they had met on their journey.

"Thank you, great heroes!" shouted everybody inside the echoic walls of Tempora Hall, which had been recently renovated and was much more cozy than before. They formed a line along the aisle and out the doorway, and they walked through.

"Looks like you finally found that special someone," said Merlee to Jennifer as they walked by.

"Rrreow rreow rreow!" chanted three shy guys.

"Hello, there, old chap," said Chris T. "Great job on saving the world and all. But let it be known that, without the aid of The Great Toad Detective, you would never have-"

"Good job, old bean!" said Kolorado as he patted Mario on the back.

"Princess!' yelled Toadsworth, who ran from out of the crowd and straight towards Peach. He gave her a rather tight hug. "THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE ALRIGHT! I've been having a heart attack from the moment you were gone!"

They bumbled their way through the long line of congratulations and out of Tempora Hall to see that the weather had finally returned to normal. Sunny blue skies, temperate weather. All was finally back to normal, and a hot air balloon was waiting for them in the central square where they had arrived at so long ago.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," said Peach. Mario, Luigi and Toadsworth boarded the hot air balloon after her. Thomas, Antony, Violet and Thomas stood below them, waving goodbye.

"Thanks for the adventure, Mario!" said Jennifer.

"Yeah, saving the world was pretty cool!" said Antony.

"I, um...thanks for everything!" said Thomas.

"What he said!" said Violet.

The balloon rose slowly into the great blue sky, drifting slowly east back towards the Mushroom Kingdom. It would be a long time until they would be home once again.

"Wait for me!" shouted Kolorado from the top of a nearby building. He jumped towards the balloon, barely managing to grab the basket and tumble inside. "Cant..._huff_...keep the wife waiting much longer...Oh...I'm in trouble..."

* * *

><p>Well, it's finally finished. After nearly a year, I've finished my second fanfiction to completion, and it's been a wild ride. I don't think I ever could have found the motivation had it not been for all of your support and helpful reviews. I really appreciate it!<p>

I could write a whole new novel right here just about my thoughts on finally completing this story, but I'll keep it brief. I never would have known how therapeutic writing this could be for me. We've all got things going on in real life, and I am by no means immune just like everybody else. When I look back at my writing, I see myself in every character (at least the main ones). It's fascinating to me how I see parts of my own character leak out into these characters that I've created. Some, more than others ;)

I had a blast writing this, even though at times I struggled to keep writing, and at other times was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to keep things straight and avoid plot holes (which, did not go entirely perfectly, but that's okay). At the end of the day, this is just a hobby. A hobby that I enjoy learning how to improve, and as an added bonus, get to hear reviews from awesome people that (for some odd reason) enjoy reading what I've written :)

Thank you so much for everything, and here's hoping I continue writing with another story in the near future. Cheers!


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